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“It’s Like Stealing What Should be Theirs.” An Exploration of the Experiences and Perspectives of Parents and Educational Practitioners on Hebrew–English Bilingualism for Jewish Autistic Children
Author(s): Sher, David Ariel; Gibson, Jenny L.; Brown, Wendy V.
Date: 2021
Topics: Disability and Special Needs, Jewish Continuity, Language, Hebrew, Interviews, Main Topic: Other, Schools: Primary / Elementary, Schools: Non-Jewish, Jewish Schools, Jewish Pupils
Abstract: Parents of autistic children are routinely advised to raise them monolingually, despite potential negative effects of monolingualism and no evidence of harm from bilingualism. There is, however, limited research on this topic. This study explored experiences and perspectives of educational practitioners (‘practitioners’) and parents of Hebrew–English bilingual autistic children on bilingualism and monolingualism. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, we explored the experiences of 22 parents and 31 practitioners using both oral and written interviews. The analysis revealed that religious continuity is a crucial factor in bilingual decision-making. Unexpectedly, both practitioners and parents felt that having to adopt a monolingual approach was unjust, in line with conceptions of forced monolingualism. This article recommends awareness training on community languages and research in other communities.
‘We’ve come a very, very, long way’ Overcoming stigma of autism: An interpretative phenomenological analysis within the UK Jewish community
Author(s): Sher, David Ariel; Gibson, Jenny L.; Sher, Hannah Ella
Date: 2022
Topics: Main Topic: Other, Jewish Students, Jewish Schools, Disability and Special Needs
Abstract: Autistic people contend with high levels of stigma in many cultures worldwide. There is a scarcity of literature on stigma in relation to autism in faith communities and virtually no research focussing on this topic in Jewish communities. In this study, we aimed to explore experiences of stigma towards autism and sought views on what steps have and can be taken to reduce such stigma. Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 participants within the UK Jewish community, in both mainstream and specialist autistic schools. Interviews were conducted over 2 months in 2020. During analysis, 5 superordinate (central) themes and 13 subordinate themes were abstracted. Superordinate themes included ‘Stigma not specific to the Jewish community’; ‘Considerable strides made’; ‘More a lack of knowledge or denial than stigma’; ‘Fear of stigma is a real concern but not widely prevalent’; and ‘Potent factors that reduce stigma in the Jewish community’. We recommend workshops for greater awareness and training for teachers and parents on autism and autistic children’s experiences. We also recommend the formation of specialist autism schools in other communities and promotion of positive narratives concerning autistic people, as this successfully reduced stigma within the Jewish community.