Community Magazine August 2017

Allenhurst Deal Elberon Interlaken Loch Arbour Long Branch Oakhurst West Deal West Long Branch Doc’s delivers to your DOOR in July and August! DOC ’ S PHARMACY 559 KINGS HIGHWAY (Bet. E. 4th & 5th Streets) TEL: 718.627.1145 FAX: 718.627.2193 CURB SIDE SERVICE FREE DELIVERY The only Brooklyn Pharmacy with a proven track record of delivering to your HOME on the Jersey shore on a regular basis . THE ONLY PHARMACY DELIVERING TO DEAL FOR 30 YEARS. AV - ELUL 5777 AUGUST 2017 61 Sari began courses at Testing and Training International (TTI). Started by Raizel Reit in conjunction with Daemen College, it was a year and a half long program, doled out in eight week increments from 9:00- 5:00 on Sundays. “It was intense and required a lot of help from my family, but everybody was very supportive,” says Sari. At the time, her husband worked on Sundays, so her mother and mother-in-law took responsibility for her children. Her kids rooted her on from the sidelines as she progressed in her studies. “I enjoy this,” says Sari simply. “I went through such an ordeal and now I want to help other people so badly. These days, people push their worries under the rug and think they will go away, but they don’t go away. You need to take care of any concerns you have when your children are young – when there’s still time to retrain the brain. When they’re older, it only gets harder.” These days, Sari spends her days as a P3 provider and Title 1 teacher at Barkai Yeshivah. After school, she tutors kids privately using the Wilson method of teaching reading. Sari excels at what she does precisely because she has such sensitivity to how these children learn – a nuance she first gained from parenting her son. “You need to have a lot of patience because you won’t see results overnight,” Sari says of the temperament she cultivated. Openness is also important, whether as a parent in this situation or a teacher. “Don’t be embarrassed,” she insists. “Go online, research, talk to other people about it. Be loving, be willing to learn new things, and keep a smile on your face." Childrenwhodevelopdifferentlyneed this sort of effort fromus if any progress is to be achieved. “They don’t learn the samewaywe do,” Sari declares. “You have to put yourself down on their level and work with them from the ground up. Kids need to feel good about themselves. If they’re failing because they can’t learn, they will become helpless and won’t want to learn. And then you’ll lose them! That’s why it’s so important to get them the help they need when they’re young.” Of course, Sari would never wish her son’s developmental problems on anyone. “When my son was going through his difficulties, it was devastating. It was like someone took my heart, threw it on the floor and stomped on it over and over again. It’s horrifying to have a child who is not able to tell you ‘I love you,’ who is not able to understand you.” Sari remembers feeing helpless, broken. Who do I turn to? she wondered. Who do I call? Because she doesn’t want any parent to feel the kind of blind uncertainty that she did, she tries sincerely to be a resource for those with special needs children. She believes without question that her son’s original diagnosis and her career in special education were divinely orchestrated. “I think Hashem did this so that I would go down this path,” she says firmly. It was only through mothering him that Sari realized she had what it took to help children. “I love what I do and I love helping other parents because I knowwhat it feels like,” she says. To those interested in pursuing the field of special education, Sari is effusive in her praises. “It’s the most fulfilling job ever,” she proclaims. She visualizes the kids that she works with while saying, “The progress that they make, the smiles on their faces when they see they can do it by themselves, and the feeling you get when you see they don’t need you anymore – it’s wonderful. You feel like a million bucks, just overjoyed!” As Sari points out, Special Ed is a great field for newly married girls or young mothers, because there is no set schedule; you can make your own hours, working as little or as much as desired. We thank Sari for sharing her incredible story with us. She can be reached via email at Saricookiec@aol.com and is happy to provide further input to those who ask for it.

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