Son-Rise
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Son-Rise is an autism treatment program developed by advertising executive Barry Neil Kaufman and his wife Samahria Lyte Kaufman. They derived the program largely from their own experiences with their son, Raun.
History
In 1978, Barry Kaufman published a book, Son-Rise, about his son Raun's "triumph over autism." Raun apparently had regressive autism subsequent to a series of ear infections. Not all the medical facts are available, and he may simply have had some developmental delays. His parents tried to communicate with Raun not by overt attempts to force neurotypical behavior, but by imitating his endless rocking, plate spinning and other rituals, while gently introducing eye contact, speech, song, etc., for him to engage with if he would.
During the course of a three year program, Raun appeared to gradually 'emerge' and become a completely neurotypical child who went into mainstream school, developed friendships and went on to graduate from an Ivy League university. By his parents' and his own accounts, he now leads a 'normal' life. In 1983, the Kaufmans founded what is now known as the Autism Treatment Center of America (ATCA) to offer other parents the opportunity to learn how to create a play-based home program for their own autistic spectrum children. The center is an independent non-profit organization.
Treatment and philosophy
At the Autism Treatment Center of America, parents are given training in order to help them to encourage their child to interact and socialize more effectively. The acquisition of developmental skills plays an important role in the program, however the priority in a Son-Rise Program is encouraging socialization and communication abilities. While there are other programs that emphasize a play based therapy, such as Dr. Stanley Greenspan's DIR/Floortime model, one of the distinguishing features of Son-Rise is its emphasis on loving and accepting the child just as he or she is. The idea is based upon the awareness that any child, even an autistic child, is more likely to thrive by means of interaction and play with others who are having fun with the child and enjoying what the child enjoys.
Many parents struggle to accept their child's diagnosis and the unique behaviors of autism. It is not uncommon for parents to experience guilt and/or fears for the future. Son-Rise finds that, by offering parents support in these areas, many parents are able to attain a greater degree of comfort playing with their child and in their day to day life with their child. This attitude, combined with specific play strategies, gives parents a greater opportunity to encourage more of the type of interactions that they wish to create with their child.
Outcomes
When Raun was 'cured' from autism, the idea that a child with autism could be 'cured' was quite controversial. Today the notion of "curing" autism is more accepted. For example, the Autism Research Institute claims that thousands of autistic children have "fully recovered" in the last five years. They are referring to chidren who benefited from the DAN protocol, a series of bio-medical treatments. The Son-Rise Program supports the use of the DAN protocol and it can be used in conjunction with their program.
The 'cure' assertion can still be a target of criticism from some critics who say that it encourages false hope. However, the Son-Rise Program makes clear that all children are different and face different degrees of challenge. Not all children will be cured, but placing limits on their development - and pronouncing what they will never do - can be counter-productive and, particularly in the past, has held people back from even trying. One of the beliefs espoused by Son-Rise is that hope leads to action. Their program is designed to give parents the tools to take action with their own child.
In-house statistics of the Son-Rise Program, based upon parents' own evaluations of their children's changes, show a substantial improvements in language, attention span and eye contact; however, to date there has been no independent research into the effectiveness of the program. The Son-Rise Program has applied for a grant from the National Institute of Health to hire an independent researcher, but have been unsuccessful in acquiring funding thus far.
See also
- Controversies in autism
- Defeat Autism Now!
- List of autism-related topics
- Neurodiversity
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