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iPad gives boy a voice at his bar mitzvah

By Steven A. Rosenberg

 |  Globe Staff  

  March 04, 2012

ANDOVER - The 12-year-old boy sat in the synagogue, looked out at the congregation, and waved. On a day when Jewish tradition marks the transition from boy to man, Matthew Emmi smiled often and moved his hands to the music of the Hebrew songs. When it was time for him to say a prayer before the Torah, he touched the screen of an iPad. Matthew is severely autistic and cannot read, write, or speak sentences. Several months ago, Suzanne and Michael Emmi decided their son’s autism would not prevent him from having a bar mitzvah.

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