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Shira Yalon-Chamovitz

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Shira Yalon-Chamovitz[2]
שירה ילון-חיימוביץ
Born (1962-11-08) November 8, 1962 (age 62)
Jerusalem, Israel
Alma materUniversity of Connecticut
(1993-2000, PhD, Educational Psychology)
Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1993, MSc, Occupational therapy)
Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1986, B.Sc., Occupational therapy,)
Known forCognitive accessibility
Simultaneous simplification
SpouseDaniel Chamovitz
Scientific career
FieldsCognitive accessibility
Occupational therapy
Universal Design in Learning
InstitutionsOno Academic College
Thesis Everyday wisdom in people with mental retardation: Role of experience and practical intelligence[1]
Doctoral advisorStephen Greenspan

Shira Yalon-Chamovitz (Hebrew: שירה ילון-חיימוביץ; born 8 November 1962) is an Israeli occupational therapist. She is the director of the Israel Institute on Cognitive Accessibility and Dean of Faculty of Health Professions Ono Academic College.[3][4]Her work has shaped Israeli accessibility policy, and she is a global advocate for recognizing long COVID as a disability, drawing on her personal experience as a survivor.[5]

She has made significant contributions to the field of accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities, having coined the terms "cognitive ramps"[6] and "simultaneous simplification".[7][8]

Biography

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Shira Yalon-Chamovitz received her undergraduate and Master degrees in Occupational Therapy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s School of Occupational Therapy at Hadassah Medical School. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut.

Yalon-Chamovitz is a licensed occupational therapist and a leading expert in service and cognitive accessibility. She was the founding Director of the Department of Occupational Therapy at Ono Academic College, where she later served as Dean of Students. In 2023 she was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. She also established the Israel office of the Burton Blatt Institute, a global center promoting the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities.

Before her tenure at Ono Academic College, Yalon-Chamovitz was a faculty member in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Tel Aviv University and a visiting scholar at the University of Washington in Seattle. Earlier in her career, she served as Director of Ancillary Services at Elwyn Jerusalem, a multidisciplinary center for individuals with disabilities.

Shira Yalon-Chamovitz is married to Daniel Chamovitz, an American-born plant geneticist and the seventh president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva.

Academic career

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Most of Yalon-Chamovitz's research has concerned adults with cognitive disabilities.[9] During her doctoral research, she developed a video test of practical intelligence[10] which was included in the DSM-5 for the diagnosis of intellectual disability.[11] Subsequent research looked into the application of virtual reality for individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities,[12] and the use of co-teaching models in service learning in occupational therapy education.[13][14]

Cognitive Accessibility Work

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Yalon-Chamovitz is one of the world’s pioneers in the field of cognitive accessibility. She published a theoretical model of practice for cognitive accessibility.[15] This model has become the basis for subsequent models and implementation.[16][17] She coined the concept of cognitive ramps—the equivalent of physical ramps, but for people who face intellectual or processing barriers when accessing information. Her academic and professional work integrates disability theory, plain language use, and real-time interpretation for cognitive disabilities.

Simultaneous Simplification at the Eurovision Song Contest, 2019.

Based on this model, Yalon-Chamovitz developed the "Simultaneous Simplification" technique,[18][19] which was first implemented globally during the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation provided cognitive accessibility to the broadcast of the Eurovision through a digital video live stream, which involved translating what was said in real time in English into plain language Hebrew.[20]

Yalon-Chamovitz was a member of the committee that wrote the 2015 Israeli accessibility regulations which legally mandated the use of simple language and/or language simplification (Hebrew = פישוט לשוני).[21]

Long COVID and Disability Advocacy

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In 2023, Yalon-Chamovitz publicly disclosed her experience living with long COVID in a keynote interview at the Zero Project Conference in Vienna. She described persistent symptoms including fatigue and cognitive impairment, and detailed accommodations she implemented—such as using full scripts instead of notes and working with a personal assistant to manage job demands.

Drawing on her background in cognitive accessibility, she emphasized the need for public recognition of long COVID as a disabling condition. She advocated for government accountability, proactive outreach from NGOs, and the normalization of disability disclosure. Her remarks were widely circulated and praised for their clarity and honesty.

“I never imagined I would need the very accommodations I designed for others,” she stated in the interview. “But here I am.”[22]

References

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  1. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira Sarit (January 2000). "U Conn Doctoral Dissertations: Everyday wisdom in people with mental retardation: Role of experience and practical intelligence". Doctoral Dissertations: 1–74. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  2. ^ "published CV". Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Israel Institute on Cognitive Accessibility website". Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  4. ^ "PhD | Ono Academic College, Tel Aviv | ONO | Occupational Therapy". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  5. ^ "ZeroCon23 Fireside chat: Long COVID and Disability". YouTube. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  6. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira; Shach, Ruth; Avidan-Ziv, Ornit; Tenne Rinde, Michal (18 February 2016). "The call for cognitive ramps". Work. 53 (2): 455–456. doi:10.3233/WOR-152244. PMID 26836027.
  7. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira (18 January 2018). "Simultaneous Simplification: Stretching the Boundaries of UDL". YouTube. 2016 UDL-IRN Summit.
  8. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira; Steinberg, pnina; Shach, Ruth; Avidan-Ziv, Ornit (2019). "Simultaneous Language Simplification from the Perspective of People with IDD: Overcoming Cognitive Accessibility Barriers and Token Participation". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3390380.
  9. ^ "Shira Yalon-Chamovitz - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com.
  10. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira; Greenspan, Stephen (May 2005). "Ability to identify, explain and solve problems in everyday tasks: preliminary validation of a direct video measure of practical intelligence". Research in Developmental Disabilities. 26 (3): 219–230. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2004.08.002. PMID 15668073.
  11. ^ Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5 (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association. 2013. ISBN 978-0-89042-554-1.
  12. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira; Weiss, Patrice L. (Tamar) (May 2008). "Virtual reality as a leisure activity for young adults with physical and intellectual disabilities". Research in Developmental Disabilities. 29 (3): 273–287. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2007.05.004. PMID 17590313.
  13. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira; Kraiem, Yoav; Gutman, Carolyn (12 April 2017). "Deconstructing hierarchies: Service users as co-teachers in occupational therapy education". Work. 56 (3): 381–386. doi:10.3233/WOR-172502. PMID 28269798.
  14. ^ Lahav, Orit; Daniely, Noa; Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira (2 June 2017). "Interpersonal social responsibility model of service learning: A longitudinal study". Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 25 (1): 61–69. doi:10.1080/11038128.2017.1335775. PMID 28573894. S2CID 45345439.
  15. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira (October 2009). "Invisible Access Needs of People With Intellectual Disabilities: A Conceptual Model of Practice". Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. 47 (5): 395–400. doi:10.1352/1934-9556-47.5.395. PMID 19842744.
  16. ^ Bracken, Seán; Novak, Katie (February 2019). Transforming higher education through universal design for learning : an international perspective. London: Routledge. p. 221. ISBN 9781351132077. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  17. ^ Bar-On, Amalia; Ravid, Dorit (April 2018). Handbook of communication disorders. De Gruyter. p. 845. ISBN 978-1-61451-490-9.
  18. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira (18 January 2018). "Simultaneous Simplification: Stretching the Boundaries of UDL". YouTube. 2016 UDL-IRN Summit.
  19. ^ Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira; Avidan-Ziv, Ornit. "Simultaneous Simplification Stretching the Boundaries of UDL | Learning Designed". www.learningdesigned.org. UDL-IRN. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  20. ^ Spiro, Amy (12 May 2019). "A Eurovision broadcast accessible to all". 12 May 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.. The Jerusalem Post.
  21. ^ Baron, Reuven; Yalon-Chamovitz, Shira; Noy, Nurit; Eilam, Gavriela; Eran, Orna. "Accessibility of the built environment: Communication (in Hebrew)" (PDF). The Standards Institution of Israel. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  22. ^ "ZeroCon23 Fireside chat: Long COVID and Disability". YouTube. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
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