Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance & Inclusion Month (JDAIM) is a unified national initiative during the month of February that aims to raise disability awareness and foster inclusion in Jewish communities worldwide. For 2023, Shutaf partnered with the Gabrielle Kaplan-Meyer of the Jewish Learning Venture’s ‘Whole Community Inclusion’ initiative, with a focus on mental health for JDAIM. Mental illness and mental health challenges are part of the spectrum of disability that can evoke stigma. Engage your participants in a mental health conversation that will help everyone feel more at ease while building greater inclusion and disability awareness. For more information about these learning resources, email jennifer@campshutaf.org or gkaplan-mayer@jewishlearningventure.org.

Notes for Educators:
* We hope that you can make these lessons as inclusive as possible for all kinds of learners and for students with different kinds of disabilities. If you need any help in adapting these lesson plans, just get in touch!

* You may have students in your classroom who would like the opportunity to speak personally about their disabilities. Give students a heads up that you’ll be doing this lesson so that they have a chance to think about whether they might like to share. Similarly, you may have students whom you know have an invisible disability but they may prefer not to share with the class. The most important thing is to let the student lead by their comfort.

* You may also want to consider how you present the materials in this lesson. Videos referenced in these lessons have captions, and the texts and activities can be accessed visually or by a teacher reading aloud.

* Make sure to use the support materials for the Teen and the K-2 lesson plans.