So what exactly does Aleh stand for?

Haya in today's therapy. The finger pointing
is in response to my question about food. My
non-verbal daughter is saying 'yes'.

How very odd that Aleh is offering a preparatory course for professionals who counsel parents of children with disabilities.

The announcement [Facebook] states that the  course is predicated on the premise that

"parents are the light-tower for families and are the best experts for their children while professionals are their partners and escorts along the way and [the course] will give you workable tools to succeed in escorting parents hand in hand with confidence and professionalism".

How do we reconcile that with that other basic Aleh premise that pervades all of its marketing? That children with disabilities are best cared for in its large, closed instructions where they have, as the Aleh website describes it:

"the best available care and the opportunity to grow and develop to their fullest capabilities."

I once contacted Aleh's hotline, bemoaning the difficulties in caring for my daughter at home and was told by the person manning the service that if I sent her to live in one of their large, closed institutions, I and my husband would "get our lives back".

So Haya gets some food

That's the duplicity that pervades Aleh.

Meanwhile at home today, my daughter Haya enjoyed another "Covid-style" session with her speech pathologist. We've been having them on the balcony of our apartment. But Jerusalem's intense heat didn't allow this afternoon.

So the therapist sat, masked, at one end of our living room while Haya and I sat at the other.

I followed the therapist's instructions as you can see in these still shots taken from our video of today's session.

Haya sticks out her pointer finger when she wants to convey "yes". Getting her to do this has taken us some years of therapy.

Expectations are low and progress is painstakingly slow. That's the way it is with Haya.