LIVINGSTON (JTA) – The first graduating class at the Hineni school here might have been small, but it still represented a milestone for the institution, which serves Jewish children with autism.

Founded in 2002 and with a current enrollment of 11 students ranging from ages 3 to 12, Hineni is one of the only schools in the country for Jewish autistic children.

Because they are small and have problems qualifying for federal funds, Jewish schools have particular difficulties helping special-needs children.

But as the June 15 ceremony at Hineni demonstrated, the rewards can be great.

The 20-minute ceremony featured a brief video about Hineni, the presentation of diplomas and a short musical performance by students in the school, which is a branch of the Sinai Special Needs Institute. The Sinai institute consists of eight schools in New Jersey serving Jewish children with learning and developmental disabilities.

WATERFORD, CT -- For Judi and Stuart Deglin, the bat mitzvah of their daughter, Hanna, on Saturday at Temple Emanu-El in Waterford was a moment of singular, parental joy, and also of bittersweet peace in their hearts, as it undoubtedly was for all who know their family story.

A few months earlier, in the same sanctuary, the Deglins observed the yortzheit, or anniversary of the deaths — and this was the 10th year — of their two children, Samantha and Randy, killed while crossing a street in Norwich on Jan. 9, 1997.

Samantha Deglin, age 17, and her brother, 11, died after being struck by a car as they were walking across Washington Street, near Norwich Free Academy, after leaving a play rehearsal at the school late on a winter's afternoon. They were the Deglins' only children.