Carrie Rickey, film critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, praises the documentary Praying with Lior as “poignant and profound.” Lior Liebling, its star, is Philadelphia’s “most radiant movie star.”

She concludes:

… Lior is an agent both of social and spiritual change.

Bring tissues.

Earlier posts here and here and here. In limited release.

UNC Prof. Albert Harris recently told his biology class that older women should terminate pregnancies if Down syndrome is diagnosed.

Two op-eds from the Charlotte [North Carolina] News & Observer:

Out of touch on Down syndrome

Ellen Russell, who recently celebrated her 29-year-old daughter Emily’s marriage (photo at left), questions Prof. Harris’ assertion that a child with Down syndrome had “ruined” the lives of a family of his acquaintance. She says such a statement misses the lesson of the last thirty-plus years of advocacy by families of people with intellectual disabilities.

Perhaps that family could never access what it needed in the educational, social, day-care, employment or medical systems. Perhaps it didn’t have the encouragement of family, neighbors and friends. It is impossible for me to accept that it was the child who ruined their lives. I can give a hundred personal examples of families whose lives have flourished and benefited from the experience of having a child with Down syndrome.
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From the [London] Sunday Times, the BBC, [UK] Daily Mail, [UK] Guardian

Muslim leaders in Britain called for the removal of Phil Woolas, an environment minister and member of Parliament, after Woolas warned that inbreeding among immigrants is causing a surge in babies with genetic disabilities. Woolas warned that the issue is “the elephant in the room.”

A spokesman for the Muslim Public Affairs Committee characterized the comments as “racist” and “typical of the Islamaphobia that we have witnessed in large parts of the media recently.”

Woolas called for a national debate over the practice of first cousin marriages, which he said did not extend to all Muslim communities but was confined mainly to families originating from rural Pakistan.

“If you talk to any primary care worker they will tell you that levels of disability among the . . . Pakistani population are higher than the general population. And everybody knows it’s caused by first cousin marriage.

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“Praying with Lior” opens soon in Los Angeles, prompting the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles to produce a special issue on people with disabilities. The film, a documentary about the bar mitzvah of a young man with Down syndrome, has sparked a broad conversation about the role of people with disabilities within the Jewish community.

Included in the special issue are two cover essays on “The journey to inclusion” by parents of children with Down syndrome:

• “Seeing differences in our children poses cultural challenges,” William Kolbrener; and
• “Our family’s journey to make sure our special son was included,” by Rony Rosenbaum

Also featured are a story about a basketball program for people with disabilities, a review of Lior, and a guide to area resources with a video about a theater project for people with autism.

The film, a documentary about a devout Jewish boy with Down syndrome, opened in New York this weekend.

John Anderson in Newsday:

We can’t actually be sure of this, but it seems pretty certain that “Praying with Lior” contains the most heart-wrenching bar mitzvah speech in the history of cinema. Those who don’t choke up when Lior Liebling, the subject and hero of Ilana Trachtman’s film portrait, speaks to his congregation should check his or her pulse.

Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times:

While family and friends marvel over Lior’s putative spirituality, the director, Ilana Trachtman, captures a larger story. As the Lieblings engage in exhaustive preparations for Lior’s bar mitzvah, we see a sweet-natured, high-functioning young man enjoy a level of assimilation — and attention — granted to few of the mentally disabled. A near-celebrity within his neighborhood, Lior seems unaware of his real-world limitations — a fact that worries his stepmother, Lynne Iser, though not his father, Mordechai.

Patiently and delicately, Ms. Trachtman teases out the tricky dynamics of a family dealing with a disabled child.

(The film is designated a NYT Critics’ pick.)

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Unusual theater project prepares autistic teens for bar and bat mitzvahs. The outcome ‘was such a lesson for all of us,’ one rabbi says.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Elaine Hall has created a religious training program for Jewish teens with autism on the west side of Los Angeles. Hall is also the founder of The Miracle Group, a nonprofit theater group for children with disabilities, and her work formed the basis for the documentary “Autism, the Musical.”

Cantor Steve Puzarne: “I’ve been bar mitzvah coaching for 25 years, and these kids catch on as quickly as any I’ve coached at other synagogues,” he said.

“In my experience, they’re some of the most spiritually profound people I’ve ever met. I have definitely changed my teaching of the typical kids because of what I’ve learned from these youngsters.”

Here’s an article in The American Muslim with tips for families on how to regard children with autism.

Unfortunately, the Muslim community is largely unaware of the existence of special-needs children. It is imperative that the families of children who are on the autism spectrum educate the community about autism and related developmental disabilities.