I found this while surfing.. of course..
The Rite Stuff
A bar mitzvah represents an enormous challenge for one boy and his family, and spirits soar when he succeeds.
Sunday Boston Globe Magazine, October 19, 2003
I didn’t have a bat mitzvah, and my husband had not been raised Jewish. So why was I insisting that my firstborn son, who happens to be autistic, have a bar mitzvah?
read the rest here: http://susansenator.com/ritestuff.html