The Jerusalem Center for Children with Visual Impairments and Multiple Disabilities

After a busy day school day, our after-school program offers a safe, nurturing and enriching environment until 7:00 p.m.  After school hours, activities include music, pet, nature and gardening therapies, time in the multi-sensory SNOEZELEN room, the Gymboree, and one-on-one activities with our Israeli and international volunteers.  Based on his/her dietary requirements and health restrictions, individually prepared meals and snacks are spoon fed to the children.  Our full-time nursing staff administer afternoon and evening medications, and supervise all medical emergencies. 

 

Offering this daily coverage enables our parents to work a full day, help their other children with homework, buy groceries and run errands, or spend time alone together recharging their batteries.  Meanwhile, the children receive loving emotional and physical support at the Center.

 

The after-school program is funded in part by Israel's Ministry of Welfare, and by friends from around the world.

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Share your love of gardening, music or animals.  Sponsor an enrichment activity in our after school program.

At Keren Or, we recognize that caring for a child with complex disabilities has an impact on the entire family unit.  We seek to ease our parents’ challenges and strengthen the relationship between the child and his/her parents and siblings. 

Our licensed social worker, educational and clinical staff offer:

• support groups and individual therapy for parents,

• information regarding rights and entitlements,

• assistance applying for government and private funding sources for specialized equipment for the home,

• help accessing routine and emergency respite care,

• informational evenings about developmental issues,

• a mobile dental clinic for children with disabilities,

• on-site evaluations,

• one-on-one guidance and help finding long-term residential placements for our graduates,

• a tactile library where families can check out 3D books to enjoy at home,

• an annual Hanukah party for the whole family,

• vacation camps during the summer and Jewish holidays

• and much more.

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Learn more about services we provide for families during the school day.

In order to provide maximum support to our families, Keren Or remains open during summer vacation and Jewish holidays such as Sukkot and Hannukah, when mainstream schools are closed.  This gives parents the ability to go to work or to spend quality time with their other children, with the reassurance that their Keren Or child is being cared for in a loving, safe, fun, adapted environment. 

 

The camp schedule includes academic enrichment and therapies, but places an emphasis on leisure time activities and gives our children the chance to be children in a relaxed, supportive environment. 

 

Summer camp includes an incredible overnight trip, a very rare experience for most of our students, and one that they eagerly await!

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Help send a child to camp!

Dedicated in November 2019, the Atar Library is a unique tactile library dedicated in memory of Shoshi and Yariv Atar, and their six children, who were killed in a tragic car accident in 2018.  Shoshi was a beloved teacher at Keren Or for 28 years, and advanced the use of tactile books within the school.  The Atar Library enables children with visual impairments to enjoy the simple pleasure of going to the library, and reading a book with their parents or siblings. 

 

The library holds tactile textbooks – 3-D books that are specially adapted to children with visual impairments, particularly CVI, that are used in the classroom and for a range of educational opportunities.  The books were created by the Keren Or staff and address subjects that are culturally relevant and applicable to the children's daily lives.

 

The Atar collection also boasts a lending library, where families can check out "book kits" to enjoy together at home, or in the reading corner of the library.  Each kit contains a famous children's book that parents can read to their child, as well as 3-dimensional props to illustrate the story and engage the child.  The props are adapted to the students' physical, cognitive and sensory needs, and are stored together with the printed book in a colorful tote bag.  Additionally, each kit contains specially created activities and interactive games that are related to the themes of the book and can be played together to reinforce the messages from the story.

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Help the Atar Family Library continue to grow.  Sponsor a book today.

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