ALUT celebrates 50 years

At the ceremony, which took place in the presence of President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal Herzog, at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, ALUT chairman Gadi Weinrib presented the president with a special Haggadah for Passover, which was produced especially for him in honor of ALUT's 50th year. The Freedom Haggadah, printed in the Beeri print house, combines drawings of autistic children and adults alongside drawings of children from the Gaza Strip border area, which together create an inspiring mosaic of humanity, creativity, resilience, and hope.

 As part of the jubilee event for ALUT and as every year, Hila and Rani Rahav, members of the public council at ALUT, awarded scholarships for excellence named after Leah Rabin to outstanding ALUT employees: Racheli Rotfeld, Orit Amger, Galit Shmuel and Yael Kravitz El Al.

A scholarship was also awarded in the name of the late Esnat Ravid, who was the founder and director of the Gil School for Special Education in Tel Aviv, courtesy of her family and her husband Dr. Gadi Ravid. The parents' words were delivered by Hagit Ron Rabinovitch, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and mother of her autistic son Eli.

Also participating in the event were: members of ALUT's public council, including Dalia Rabin, Meir Shani, former CEO of ALUT, Amos Shapira, former chairman of ALUT, the founders of the association, as well as managers and employees of ALUT.

The organizers of the ceremony also honored the memory of Liora Avigdori, one of the founders of the association, who passed away about a month ago and was a leading figure in ALUT. Liora turned the personal tragedy of the death of her autistic son (age 11) into a life's work, and over the years helped promote the rights, research, and treatment of children and adults on the autistic spectrum.

The artistic part was performed by Magshimim Choir, consisting of boys and girls on the autistic spectrum from Binyamin Rotman Magashim High School.

At the event, the ALUT association commemorated 50 years of significant work as a groundbreaking association, established by parents to provide answers to their children on the autism spectrum. ALUT's work is back and proves how important it is especially this year. With the outbreak of the war, ALUT quickly identified the new needs that arose and created facilities for children and adults with autism and their families, such as a communication garden complex for children on the strip in the Dead Sea hotel complex.

In the jubilee that passed, ALUT and the parents experienced countless challenges and successes, struggles and victories, and the road is still long. ALUT was the first to bring the issue of autism to awareness in Israel, and together with the parents established the first kindergarten, the first school class, the first housing center for people on the spectrum, the first employment center and more.

Over the years, it has established hundreds of educational, leisure, housing and employment frameworks, promotes rights and services for families and works at the forefront of diagnosis, brought about the enactment of dozens of laws, and achieved achievements in the field of research and development and training for professionals.