Miriam Itzkowitz – Year 10

Reconciliation Week

This was acknowledged during our High School Assembly this week, with the theme Make History not a Mystery. Students heard from Adjunct Professor George Newhouse, an Australian human rights lawyer. Together with Lt Col (ret) Dan Mori, Professor Newhouse established The National Justice Project, a not-for-profit legal service. They apply their “expertise to advancing human rights by representing and giving voice to the vulnerable who would otherwise be unable to find legal representation”.

Szenes House Assembly

Our House Assembly this week continued to focus on developing teamwork skills within Tutor Groups, led by Year 11 and 12 students. The bridge which supported the most mass was awarded a prize.

Philosophy Club

At Philosophy Club, we have been having some fascinating discussions about utilitarianism, existentialism, animal rights, AI and the Holocaust. These topics are highly interesting and it is always fun to see how other’s opinions differ from your own!

Autism Awareness Day

On Tuesday, I spoke about autism at Assembly, as I am organising a fundraiser next week in support of my brother’s condition. Here is my speech:

” ‘Gay, Retard,Spaz.’ These are words my brother has had said to his face or about him behind his back almost every single day. ‘You’re autistic!’, ‘This is autism!’ Those phrases are thrown around school constantly as a means of insult towards one another.

Autism is a neurological condition that impairs one’s ability to communicate ‘normally’. My brother suffers from autism, but he doesn’t suffer from the condition itself, rather, he suffers from the way people treat him as a result of his autism. A lot of people who bully him don’t necessarily know that he has it, as it’s not a condition one can see. Many people believe my brother just acts crazily for no reason, which somehow translates to a right to tease him. While there’s nothing really wrong with teasing, one massive part of autism is having trouble differentiating between sarcasm and literalism. So even if what someone was saying was meant as a joke, to the person with autism, it could be an insult. However, on the other hand, people who pick up on my brother’s difficulty in telling the difference between a joke and seriousness, often take advantage of him and manipulate him into doing things he doesn’t want to do, which is not OK.

It’s difficult to explain how it feels to be autistic if you’re not on the spectrum, which makes it hard to empathise. The 1^st time I was really able to empathise with my brother was when I went on exchange to France. While I understood most of what people were saying, when people made jokes, I didn’t always laugh because I couldn’t understand why what they were saying was funny, which is a common trait amongst the autistic community, as they take most things literally. Additionally to being highly sensitive emotionally, autistic people are also sensitive when it comes to the extremes of the 5 senses, which is why it’s common to see an autistic person with headphones or earplugs or sunglasses.

And autism is not such a terrible thing. Many people on the spectrum, like my brother, are extremely high functioning and intelligent. My brother is an expert on Science of all sorts, especially Astronomy. He also has a photographic memory, which is beneficial in memorising his outer space facts, which he’ll just repeat constantly. The IDF even has a special unit where they use people on the spectrum to help analyse aerial and satellite photos. Most connotations about autism being bad are incorrect, and come out of pure ignorance, to the point in which people refuse to vaccinate their children in case they contract it, or try to cure it by injecting bleach enemas.

I want to spread awareness of autism, so those who have it will be treated with more respect and compassion in hopes they can be celebrated for who they are and their differences. So next Tuesday, 5 June, will be an Autism Awareness day. It will be a blue-themed plain clothes day with a gold coin donation. As blue is the representative colour of autism and the puzzle piece is the representative symbol, there will be a bake sale at recess, selling puzzle piece shaped cookies and blue cupcakes. During your Jewish Studies lessons, there will be some activities you’ll be participating in in the Angles Leadership and Learning Centre and at lunch, there will be lots of fun activities, including a sensory-then-non-sensory disco in The Aron Kleinlehrer Performing Arts Centre, which involves really loud music and flashing lights, which will then progress into something which would be considered more of a utopia for someone on the spectrum. All the money raised will be going towards Autism Spectrum Australia.

Next week in Szenes House

We have some exciting events coming up next week, and basically THREE PLAIN CLOTHES DAYS!!!! Yes, 3.

Week 6

• Monday is the SRC BBQ and PLAIN CLOTHES day, raising money for Asylum Seekers.
• Tuesday is the Autism Awareness day which is a blue PLAIN CLOTHES day raising money for Autism Spectrum Australia aka Aspect.
• Thursday is the Athletics Carnival, and remember to come in your Szenesian colours (purple and gold/yellow)! A reminder that this event is compulsory and that absences will require a Medical Certificate.

Quotation to inspire

“What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly – that is the first law of nature.”
Voltaire

Enjoy the weekend and Shabbat Shalom