From Kate Wilde: A video Blog Library.

After mastering the complexities of YouTube I have now finally and successfully uploaded all of our video blogs on to YouTube. As of right now we have over 25 on a variety of different subjects. There are many theme ideas, building ideas and different adjustments you can make to your Son-Rise Program playrooms to inspire more creativity.

There are video blogs helping you with your energy excitement and enthusiasm, also on different Son-Rise Program techniques and 8 or so dedicated to the concept of creativity, playfulness and being silly- all vital parts of reaching your child on the Autism spectrum.

Use these videos to inspire and educate your team of volunteers or staff members. Have your volunteers watch some of these videos as part of their training.

Re - watch different themes, maybe your child will be ready for one you viewed a couple of months ago-- maybe you will be ready to try one you had previously thought you could not. We have put them all together so that you and your team will have easy access to them.

Click on the link below to take you to the place where they are all stored.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXxfuBJBlpU

We will be posting new video blogs here and on YouTube regularly - so keep posted.

With much love to you, your wonderful volunteer teams, and lovely children

Kate

From William: It was Magic!

I have just come out of our Son-Rise Program playroom, where I worked/played with a wonderful boy with autism. I feel so bless and honored to have been with him. We jumped around, chewed on chew toys, stared at spinning objects, shared eye contact, he rode on my back and let me bounce him up into the sky. We spoke, laughed and were also completely silent. I rolled on the floor, pretended to jump on a trampoline and at times stood still starring off across the room…every moment was magic!

Enjoy your time in your playroom with your child.

Love and Smiles

William

From Amanda-Being Creative

Good Morning Dear Son Rise Program Parents and Friends,

When I first began my work here as a Child Facilitator at the Autism Treatment Center of America, I had serious challenges with creativity. The challenge was not that I lacked creativity, rather it was that I did not trust in my creativity. I thought I had to come up with amazing games and themes to bring into the playroom or it would be a direct reflection of who I was as a person and a facilitator. Boy was I wrong.

My perception of creativity changed one day in a themes class with one of our amazing Son Rise Program Teachers. She arrived in the classroom with a satchel full of objects. For an entire hour she had each of us reach into the bag and grab an object. The idea was to use it as a prop in as many ways you could possibly think to use it. We were encouraged to think outside the realm of ordinary and really go for creativity. There were things like hand weights that we used turned into heavy buckets; there were hats that we used as cauldron to stir a witches brew; there was a fake piece of fruit that we turned into a telephone; and so on. When I first began to partake in this activity, I would pause and try to think of what to do with the prop. My teacher then said "Just do the first thing that comes to your mind!". Well, after she said that my creative juices began to flow and I was fantastic. Come to find out, I had quite a knack at being creative. The only thing that changed is that I went from judging myself to completely trusting myself and my abilities. I went from discomfort to being totally comfortable. Yippee! I allowed myself to be a kid again.

Being creative and playful in the playroom doesn't have to be an agonizing and dreadful experience. You can decide to let yourself go and be a child and you can practice this even when you aren't in the playroom. Last week we had a mom here for a Son Rise Program Family Intensive and we had just finished their group meeting. For the last 45 minutes of the meeting we brain storm games to help the parents think of themes for their child. When we were done she was thanking us for helping her tap into her creative energy and then she began top laugh. She was looking at a piece of paper on the table and said "I can't help but think of all the different things I can do with a simple piece of paper now."

I too practice at home. Just last weekend I filled a satchel with props and played the very same game I played in class with my own children. Not only did I get to brush up on my own skills but my children and I had a blast playing a really great game together!

Let go and have fun with your creativity!

From Becky: Potty Training Take 6

Being a Child Facilitator and a Teacher in The Son-Rise Program, there are many skills that I have acquired over the years. One of those skills is.......

Persistence! To work on any skill with our children we need to be persistent and keep trying. If we gave up after the the first attempt of helping our child use the toilet then they would never get the opportunity to really work on their area of challenge. Here are some ways to think when toilet training your child that will help you to be persistent.

1) I beleive that my child will want to use the toilet. Our children might not immediately show signs of wanting to use the toilet, but holding this belief will inspire them to keep trying because you believe in them. If you don't truly get behind the idea that your child has the ability to be successful in this then you won't put much effort into it and therefore your child will follow suite. You are your child's biggest resource and they will take on the beliefs that you have. What we ultimately believe, comes to pass eventually so the belief in itself will help you hugely.

2) I am not attached (needing) them to use the toilet. If there is a "Push" or a "Need" for your child to become toilet trained then your they will pick up on that and resist against it. Be prepared to lovingly persist without your success or happiness being dependant upon whether they pee/poo in the potty or not.

3) Toilet Training is fun! The minute that you stop being excited about helping your child get intersted in the toilet, the minute your child will stop being intersted.

4) "No means no for now, but not forever" When your child pulls away from the toilet or tells you or shows you that they are not interested right now. It doesn't mean that all has failed and they mean no forever, be excited to give them control and then try again later.

5) Just because they haven't done it yet, it doesn't mean that they won't want to do it now or in the future. If we always make our decisions based on past experiences then we will never try new things. If we want our children to stretch themselves and do new things then we actually need to think differently, let's be the pioneers of new things to inspire our children.

Some children will toilet train in two weeks, and some will take two years, but in either circumstance, persistence is key!


Have fun being persistent.

From Alison: If music be the food of love.....

I love the way that the Son Rise program encourages us to celebrate our children when they do something wonderful like look at us. I also love the way that music and particularly songs can convey such a profound message and sometimes a song can get me right in the heart in such a beautiful way. Here's what happened the other day in our playroom.
I have recently welcomed a wonderful new recruit to our Son Rise team, she is called Rachel and she is 17 years old. Jordan already adores her and so do I. The other day she was up to the point in her training where she went into the playroom with Jordan but without me. I was watching her on the CCTV. As she is joining Jordan she starts to quietly sing to him in the sweetest lullaby tones. 'Moon River wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style someday'. But she couldn't remember all the words so she just sang snippets of the song. BUT the pieces she remembered were so amazing as they were all about the Son Rise program attitude.....'wherever you are going, I'm going your way' ....... the goosebumps start to form as I am watching......'two drifters off to see the world, there's such a lot of world to see'.....I am in awe of my new recruit now.....'my huckleberry friend, moon river and me'.

How powerful was that for me to watch and learn that everything and everyone can teach me something. I have now claimed Audrey Hepburn's song for our Son Rise program - Wherever Jordan is going, we are going his way.......

From William: Truly Giving or Saving Yourself!!

Truly Giving or Saving Yourself!!

As I have continued to dialogue about my own feelings and beliefs as well as mentoring Son-Rise Program parents, a particular perspective on caring for and giving to others has formulated. I find the perspective helpful as I continue my journey of deepening my acceptance and happiness with life.

The perspective goes something like this: Caring for and giving to others can be broken down into two distinct types. (Remember I am not talking about the truth - only my perspective, which is belief-based.)

The first type is a caring and a giving that is based on accepting, loving and wanting the best for the other person. It is a giving that comes from the joy of caring for this person and requires nothing back in return, because the giving itself feels good and is in agreement with how you want to live your life.

The second type is caring and giving that is based on saving yourself! This is best understood within an example. So let's say your partner wants the family to go and spend the afternoon with his/her parents and you really do not want to go, because you don't get on with the in-laws. You decide to go along with what your partner is asking for based on the saving-yourself type of giving. Your possible belief mechanism could be as follows - you go because you don't want your partner to get unhappy with You. You believe when they are unhappy with you they are not loving you, and not affirming that you are a good person (or that you are alone.) This does not feel good to you and so as a way to avoid (save yourself from) feeling bad about yourself you go to your in-laws house, so your partner stays happy and loving towards you!! You appear giving and caring, yet you really go because this is the only way you know to continue feeling good about who you are. When we give in this way, we can ultimately end up resenting our partner for "making" us go - yet really we are resenting ourselves for operating in this way.

The key to letting go of the saving-yourself type of giving is to accept that you are doing the best you can. Then, work toward feeling relaxed and good about yourself, even if your partner (or other people in your life) are unhappy with you and the choices you make.

Remember, it is a worthy cause to be happier in your life for it will lead you to be a more loving and caring person - consider it as a gift to the world.

With much love and smiles,

William

From Jack: Inspirational Thoughts

Hey guys

Often when people come here to the Autism Treatment Center of America, they are amazed by the level of energy, excitement and enthusiasm of our staff here. They ask how we are able to sustain such passion in our work, using The Son-Rise Program to help recover children and adults with autism. Well - we teach here that it is a CHOICE. We can choose, in any moment, to have a wonderful experience when working with autistic children - and from the joy we create from that experience comes our excitement and energy.

One thing that I find so helpful in guiding myself towards seeing the perfection and beauty is to keep a folder full of inspirational quotes and poems: things I can read every day to remind myself of the healing power of love, the beauty of the present moment, the gift of a challenge - all attitudinal thoughts that are so useful when in the Son-Rise Program playroom!

Today, I read this, and felt it was so applicable to my job here as a Child Facilitator:

The healer knows we heal no one, we cure no one;
to attempt the cure denies the truth:
disharmony sown in spirit reaps imbalance in the flesh.
To regain the point of balance only open your heart,
merely offer your life;
allow the love to heal, allow the weak to grow;
say ‘I am the healer’, you stay out of the flow.

Why not make your own folder of inspirational writings, and read one piece before each of your sessions. Challenge yourself to go even deeper into your appreciation of your child and your life.

With love,

Jack

Games!

From Kate Wilde: Here at The autism Treatment center of America we are dedicated to bringing you varied and interesting games and activities you can play with your children on the autism Spectrum.
So, Just click on the video below to view yet another fun game. If you are on face book right now, click on the title of this blog, then on "View original blog" then on the video itself. You can also view this video on YouTube.
have fun playing this humorous game
With much love to you
Kate

TOM IS SO FLEXIBLE NOW!

From Jackie: Hello, this is my very first blog and I would love to share with you an example of how flexible Tom is now - and this has not always been the case. He was one very controlling little boy in his playroom!!

We have been running Tom's Son-Rise Program for six years now and Tom has done amazing. He is in mainstream school full time and loving it. We arranged for Shona MacColl, Son-Rise Child Facilitator, to come down at the weekend to do an outreach as we want to continue helping Tom. During Shona's second day Tom wanted to play a battle game with Shona. Tom loves battles - acting out times in history like the First World War - and so Tom and Shona got their toy soldiers ready on top of towers made of bricks, ready for the big battle. I could see through the window how excited Tom was getting and then, just before the battle commenced Shona said, 'Tom I don't want to play this game." Tom stopped in his tracks, paused, and then said, "OK Shona." He then looked up to the shelves and pointed to a jigsaw and said, "How about we do a puzzle?" But Shona said, "I really want to play a game of my choosing." So Tom said, "OK" and began to put the soldiers away!
I was so amazed at how Tom responded to Shona - he was so accepting and happy to change games! He was funny as he did go on to explain to Shona that he really wanted to play his battle game and Shona was fantastic at explaining how she really wanted to help him with his friendship skills at school. They then went on to play a great game that Shona came up with and it was lovely to see them having so much fun.
It was definitely a very special moment for me.

From Katrina - Tea time thoughts

As I am sitting here drinking my tea, I see the little saying that comes attached to the yogi tea bag ..."happiness comes when you overcome the most impossible obstacle", hmmm, not in my world. My world is much better than that. I know that happiness comes whenever I WANT IT to come.

I was thinking about that this morning at the dentist, there was a time when I hated the dentist and everything associated with it. Because I hated it I made the experience even worse for myself. I would tense up, cringe at the sound of any whirring, hate the feel of plastic gloves, just basically make it awful on myself. No more! I go to the dentist to take care of my teeth and therefore my body, there is no reason to make this an awful experience, this experience is helping me. Today, I acknowledged that, and had the best time I could at the dentist. I was relaxed, I made playful conversation with the dentist, let him work his expertise on me, and I tapped my feet to the radio and thought about well...this blog. If I can make the dentist a happy experience I know I can take this intention with me anywhere.

When I am in a Son Rise program playroom I always bring that happiness. If I ever feel my energy drop, I remember why I am there, to help this child and show him/her how wonderful connecting with other people can be. I feel like giving this child my happiness and acceptance no matter what is the best way to invite them into my world. I remember what Samahria always says that you don't have to go into the playroom, that is also a choice. So, if I choose to go into that playroom I am going to show that child the most exciting happy world I can!

wishing you all happy times,
Katrina

From Amanda:Control in the Playroom

Hello Wonderful Son Rise Family,

This week at the Autism Treatment Center of America we have a beautiful little boy who has been working on his challenges with control and allowing our presence in the playroom. On Monday, he would easily allow his parents into the playroom but would often have the Child Facilitators sit in the bathroom while he was in the playroom. On Tuesday however, things began to change.

How does one work with a child who has a challenge with control and will not allow your presence in the room? There are many different answers I am sure, but I am going to share the approach that was most effective for me when I had my session.

For me, it was important that I set a clear intention before going into the playroom. I decided to be completely comfortable if he wanted me in the bathroom. I decided this after I adopted the belief that he was taking care of himself in some way so if being in the bathroom was helping him do this then I was going to love the experience. Next, even though I was going to go into the bathroom if that is where he wanted me, I could still WANT to be in the playroom and work on lovingly building the connection to facilitate this happening.

After setting my intention, I went to the apartment and knocked on the playroom door where Dad was already playing. The little boy opened the door and said "no" and pushed me into the bathroom and shut the door. I celebrated him for telling me exactly what he wanted and I would respect his wishes. In the meantime Dad went out the other door. I stayed in the bathroom for about 2 minutes and decided to open the door to see if he had changed his mind. Still, this little angel came over to me again and shut the door. I again celebrated him for communicating his wants and told him I would try again in a couple of minutes. I still felt completely comfortable.

The little boy checked on me several times to be sure I was still in the bathroom and then he sat at the table to be exclusive. I again waited about 2 minutes and then I opened the door to see if he would invite me into the playroom. He simply looked at me and did not tell me to leave so I explained to him that I was going to come into the playroom and just be with him. I walked slowly to the opposite side of the room and joined him in his exclusive activity. I lowered my energy and made myself small to help him know that this was still his room and I was respecting his space.

After 5 minutes of joining, this little boy began to look at me so I raised my energy and celebrated him with excitement and enthusiasm. We were building a connection! As he looked at me I began to get bigger and built on his activity by doing a silly dance. Before you know it we were in a silly song and dance game and I was no longer in the bathroom.

I believe that giving this little boy complete control and allowing him to put us in the bathroom was extremely helpful in building a trusting relationship. I also believe being comfortable with this helped facilitate in building this trust. Wanting and believing that he would allow us in the room helped keep my intention alive. I never assumed his "no" meant no forever so I kept coming back to the initial want....WANTING TO BE IN THE PLAYROOM!

From Jack: Talking time!

Good day friends!

Let's talk about talking :)

We all love to do it, we all want our children to do it and we all want our children to do it TYPICALLY.

Now ask yourself this: "How do I talk to my special child when I'm doing The Son-Rise Program?"

Do you tend to be loud? Do you tend to use a baby-voice? Do you talk all the time? Do you only do silly voices?

At the Autism Treatment Center of America we believe that when we are working with autistic children and adults that we are MODELING effective social interaction. When you talk to your child you have a wonderful opportunity to model to them how typical people talk to each other. As a Son-Rise Program Child Facilitator I love to talk to the children here in my normal voice - not shouting all the time, not speaking down to them, not bull-dozing them with words - just my relaxed, normal voice. I feel able to create a genuine friendship with them this way, plus I know that they are learning from me how to use their voice typically. Sure, friends shout, whoop, laugh and sing together, but they also chat. Try that - even if your child isn't at the point yet of being able to reply, I know they will take in and appreciate you talking to them as an equal.

Have fun my chitter-chatterers!

Love Jack

From Katrina - Aaaah! A child's perspective

Imagine this:
You are lost in thought; perhaps contemplating the mysteries of the universe, when out of nowhere someone approaches you. He grabs at your hands, you do not know what is happening. You pull your hands back, He grabs at them again. You scream in protest, "what is going on?" you think. This person is large, much larger than you and stronger too. He pulls at your clothes fast and hard and he doesn't listen when you cry out. You try to fight him, but he just keeps at it. He holds your hands and rips your shirt over your head. You struggle, but he holds strong. Now he has an object in his hand he is pushing toward you. He is now trying to push this over your head, even when you scream he continues and then grabs at your arms and pulls them through holes. Finally, the struggle ends and the person walks off.

This could be what it feels like to our children when we simply change their shirt. Even if we have the best of intentions, to our children we may be invaders.

This is another lesson that I too learned with my infant child. Kyla would scream and cry any time we attempted to change her clothes, so we tried to be quick and get it over as soon as possible. After awhile of doing this, I remembered my Son Rise training. I slowed down, I approached her calmly and explained what I was doing and why I was doing it. I moved slowly and talked her through everything I was doing. Amazingly, she has stopped crying. Babies, just like all people and our autistic children, like to be respected and treated well.

Next time you are wanting to change your child's clothes, put on their coat, or move them in some way think about it from their perspective and guide them through it slowly. And when you are in the playroom remember to always give control if they don't want what you are offering. This is a safe haven for the child where they are in charge!

loving you wherever you are,
Katrina

Are you under stimulating your child?

From Kate Wilde:Are you under stimulating your child? Ooh what a fun questions to ask yourself, especially if you often ask yourself, "Will my child be able to do this?" or make the statement - "My child will never do that."

Here at the Autism Treatment Center of America we see that children on the Autism spectrum challenge is not the level of their intelligence, nor their ability to understand what is spoken to them, but the ability to respond to what is being asked of them. Given that, if you have a nine year old, are you still asking them the same questions you did when they were five. If you have 12 year old are you still singing nursery rhymes to them. Are you reading the same book to your 15 year old?

Your 9 year old is still a nine year old, they have had nine years of experience, inside, maybe their tastes and mental development has grown as much as their physical appearance. If this is the case then we want to introduce to our children activities and ideas that are closer to their age group and stimulating to their minds.

How about taking in the newspaper and reading them a current article. Drop the nursery rhymes and sing some old rock songs, or a funk tunes, whatever music you like. Find an rare and tropical animal to teach them about, bring in photos and music of a different time or culture to discuss. When thinking about what you could offer to your child, think about something that you enjoy but have never thought to share with them.

Much love to you all
Kate

From Becky: More Toilet Techniques

5) Motivation! At The Autism Treatment Center of America we believe that motivation is the key to all learning.

To the tune of "She'll be coming around the mountain"

He'll be peeing in the potty when he comes
He'll be peeing in the potty when he comes
He'll be peeing in the potty, peeing in the potty
Peeing in the potty when he comes

Using your child's interests to help inspire a new love for the toilet is extremely effective when toilet training your child. If they like to sing, make up a song about the toilet, if they prefer tickles and squeezes, pretend that the toilet is a tickling/squeeze toilet that is activated whenever they sit on it. If your child is a climber, create an obstacle course that leads to the toilet.

Incorporate the toilet into games when they are connected and engaged with you. If you are giving them rides, pretend you are an airplane on it's way to "Potty Land" where you will deliver pee and poop! If your child is into figurines or stuffed animals, make them all go to the toilet in a fun way.

Without motivation there is no learning, take a minute right now to write down your childs top 5 motivations and then brainstorm ways that you can include promoting the potty into these activities.

Have so much fun!

From Becky: Toilet Training take 4

Give your child control!

Here at The Autism Treatment Center of America, giving our special children as much control as possible is always on the main menu.

This is because The Son-Rise Program inpires our children to actually want to do things for themselves (like using the toilet in this example).

Giving our children control make us both attractive to be with and gives our children an opportunity to choose to develop self help skills such as toilet training. That means that whenever your child says "No", pulls away or indicates that they are not interested in the toilet then we will honor that and give them an immediate respect to their comunication.

Every time we honor our child's telling us or showing us "No", we are a step closer to them saying "Yes!" Giving control in an exaggerated way helps our children to become much more flexible therefore allowing them to open themselves up to new experiences.

In a world where things can be unpredictable we can be a constant source of solid predictability where no means no! When you honor your child's "No", it doesn't mean that you are giving up or dropping your focus of offering the toilet, it simply means that in that moment, your child is not open to it, that is not to say that in 10 minutes our child may be different.

Have fun!

From Kate Wilde:Joining the Ism

From Kate Wilde: Joining the the ism is at the heart of the Son-Rise Program, it is not just about the actions we take as we join in with our children's activities it is about how we feel and think as we take part in our children's isms.

Click on the video below to hear what Son-Rise Program teachers and Son-Rise Program child facilitators think and feel as they join children on the Autism Spectrum in their isms.

If you are on face book right now click on the title of this blog, and then on "view original blog", then on the video itself. You can also view this video on YouTube.

Much love to you and your lovely children

Kate

From Katrina - A blast from the past

Recently I rewatched the Inspiring Journeys of Son Rise Program Families and thier Children DVD which includes the BBC Documentary "I Want My Little Boy Back" (to order a copy call us at 413-229-2100) It shows a 2 week version of our intensive program. Watching an outside perspective of what happens here I was blown away once again at the power of our work and how much children can accomplish through love and motivation.
The first time I watched this movie over 3 years ago was the instant I fell in love with the Son Rise program. I rememeber this moment vividly. I was working with a family who was doing ABA with thier child at the time. They had the DVD and asked me to watch it to see what I thought about it. I was so overwhelmed I cried, because when I watched this movie it was the first time I could actually envision myself working with autistic children as a career because I felt there was finally a therapy I could get behind. That very night I looked up the program and decided I wanted to train to be a professional child facilitator.
Now I get to be the behind the camera professional who gets to love these children and help them make monumental changes for themselves. I love my job!

Jack's Playroom Stories #2

From Jack:
Hi there friends!

So here is one of my special playroom moments from this week! Over the last few days I have been lucky enough to spend time playing with the CUTEST little 3 year autistic boy from Canada, here at the Autism Treatment Center of America. He has black messy hair, deep brown eyes and the sweetest smile in the world. Today, as we were approaching the end of his session he decided to start crying, really quite loudly. Now, having been trained in The Son-Rise Program, my first thought wasn't "Oh no! My friend is unhappy!" but instead "Hmmm, my friend is trying to tell me he wants something in the best way he knows how. How can I help him tell me more effectively?"

S0 I went over to this little munchkin and said "Hey, I love you but I don't know what you want. Why don't you take a deep breath and tell me what you want?" and he took a breath and said "Open!"

Now even though the door still wasn't going to open, I felt so proud of my friend! He, in that moment, had decided not to cry and to communicate with me in the most effective way: using his language! As a Son-Rise Program Child Facilitator I really view children crying as a wonderful gift - a chance to show them the beautiful power of using their language versus crying. I encourage everyone out there with children on the autistic spectrum to delight in their children when they choose to cry and think "I have a beautiful opportunity to help my child TELL me what they want."

With love and smiles to you all

Jack

What do YOU want?

From Jack: Yo yo yo Son-Rise amigos!

So I'm sat here at my desk, at the start of a new day at the Autism Treatment Center of America and I wanted to share you all something I do at the start of every day that I feel helps me have great clarity of purpose and daring action throughout my day.

Every morning I wrote down a list of 5 things that I WANT from my day. These can be anything - an attitudinal experience, to complete a task, to connect with an old friend - but the important thing is to be SPECIFIC: "I want to complete x task in 30 minutes," "I want to feel comfortable and loving while talking to x," "I want to be completely present while playing with x;"

And YES - do this for the playroom! Using The Son-Rise Program when working with our autistic children is all about US being specific in what we want for our child in each moment: "I want to connect deeply through joining my child," "I want to show my child how much I love their activity," "I want my child to look at me," "I want my child to say the word down"
I believe that when we are clear on what WE want from our children then it is clearer to them what to do for us.

Enjoy going for what you want my friends!

Love Jack

From Becky: Yet more Potty Training

Hi all,

This is my third blog about toilet training, The Son-Rise Program way. More coming soon.

3) Ditch the diapers!

If you feel ready to toilet train your child, let's get them wearing some fun, and interesting big kid underwear that is light in color so that you can see if they are starting to pee. Light blue, light pink or grey will help you to see the wetness start to appear instead of white or black.

Also, if they are motivated by a certain character (e.g. Elmo, Dora, etc) and you can get underwear with those characters on them, they will have all the more reason to wear them. Bring a bunch of all kinds of fun underwear into the playroom so you have more to offer if some get wet.

In order for your child to be more body conscious and to have reason to want to use the toilet, they need to actually feel the sensation of the wetness against their skin, where as a diaper will lock the wetness away instantly so they won't feel it in the same way. The playroom will be the perfect place to give the underwear a trial run because of the distraction free environment and the safe and easy clean up.

Get a plastic jug to catch pee and poop in and then when you see your child starting to pee, you can hold the jug under them so that their pee goes in it. This way, you can show them that it actually goes into the toilet. Our children need to see things in action to get used to new ideas. Once they see it go in the toilet, invite them to come and watch and even help you flush.

If they are doing a poo, look for the signs and do the same thing, catch the poo in the jug (this also works with a fresh poo in a diaper) and explain to them that it goes in the toilet as you model that in front of them.

Have fun!

Joining-It really is a beautiful experience

Hello my Friends,

I am writing to you today directly from the Autism Treatment Center of America in Sheffield , Massachusetts. I wanted to share an experience I had with a beautiful boy with Autism who is here this week for his week long Intensive Program. I am going to share with you the beauty of joining.

As I entered the playroom today this little boy walked over to me and immediately noticed a tool box I had in my hand so I celebrated him and put the tool box on the table. He began to explore the different toys and immersed himself in what seemed a most amazing experience. People who don't know the Son Rise Program may simply sit and watch this little boy play in his own world of wonder and excitement or they may walk away to do something on their list of chores since "he doesn't notice we are there". Here at the Autism Treatment Center of America we do something quite the opposite of watching or walking away. WE JOIN THEM!

This amazing little boy held the tools in his hand and twisted ed and torqued the screws while saying "this is a great way to work with tools". I too began to do the exact same thing he did; I twisted and torqued the screws while saying "this is a great way to work with tools". Once in awhile he would give me a look so I celebrated these special moments. Then, it happened, he looked at me, smiled, and then looked at my hands as if he wanted to be sure I was still with him in his world of wonder.

This little boy and I went on for several more minutes as if we were both in a harmonious dance. Then he stopped what he was doing and took my hand. He placed it on top of the tool bench and directed me to turn the screws with the screwdriver in the way he had been doing for minutes before. He looked with a smile and said "Now it's your turn!" I did exactly as I was told in this moment and recited the words he had been speaking "this is a great way to work with tools!" He looked my way again and began to ask questions and give me directions on how to build a bridge. Before you know it we were completely connected and enjoyed a beautiful game together.

While the game was fantastic and fun, the most important element was building the connection through joining. I believe this child felt my presence as I joined him and it was this action that developed rapport.

It may take minutes, hours, or even days, but joining is truly an integral aspect to the Son Rise Program. Having fun joining-It really is a beautiful experience!

From Katrina - I love my literal friends!

Hey everyone,

We often laugh in our office as we rehash events that took place in the playroom, but today I couldn't stop laughing enough to tell the story. I had brought in a game I had made, including a book titled with stickers that said "SUPER SPELLS". However when I first walked in, the beautiful boy from England was holding himself and wiggling. I offered him the toilet, when he looked at me I again reminded him that he could put his pee in the toilet (pee being an American word, English folk might say wee). He said "P?" I said yes, let's go put our pee in the toilet. He then proceeded to take the letter P off of my spell book and put it in the toilet! I had to giggle, it was so sweet.

My autistic friend has been so literal this week that it has been a challenge for him to stretch his imagination to symbolic play. I was often told today that objects were not what I was saying they were. "That is not a fire hose, it's a drum stick", "that is not a map, its paper", "that is not a screw driver its a bubble wand". Every time I would agree with him, and suggest we could pretend it was the new object. Most of the time that idea was shot down. This did not mean I could not try again. What I love about the Son Rise program playroom is that the child always has full control, but I can always try again later! And even if it doesn't happen today, there is always tomorrow!

Wishing you all a fun and persistently challenging day!
love,
Katrina

Start Up Greetings

Good Morning Incredible Son Rise Parents and Friends,

I am writing from home today as I have the day off with my children. Even though I have this time with my family I thought I would write a note to my extended family; All of you out there in our amazing Son Rise Program Community. I felt compelled to write to you today because I had the opportunity to meet some wonderful parents as they arrived here at the Autism Treatment Center of America to begin their journey with the Son Rise Program at the Start Up Program this week.

As a Child Facilitator, I can't express to you how truly honored I feel to meet people as they arrive here for the Start Up Program and begin this amazing journey with their child. As cars drove slowly into the driveway of the Option Institute and the Autism Treatment Center and pulled of to the side of the road looking for direction, I realized I was faced with an opportunity to be a really powerful representative of what the Son Rise Program is truly about. Some of our participants would roll down their car windows with a bit of hesitation and I greeted them with an excited "Hello, my name is Amanda and I am so happy you are here with us this week. How are you today?" One of the participants stepped out of his car and said "Well, I would be allot better if I knew where the hell I was going?" My reply to this man was even more excited than the way in which I greeted him as I said "You are here with us now so I would say for sure you know where you are going!" A sudden easiness appeared to flow through this man's body and a smile came to his face. In this brief moment, we had a common goal and that was to confirmation that he indeed knew where he was going and that he was here for what will be a life changing experience. I then told him where he was staying and he was on his way. As this man drove away I thought to myself "I so love this job!".

Many other cars pulled into the drive here at the Autism Treatment Center of America last evening and each person was met with the same love and excitement. No one knows for sure what will come at the end of the week but what is known for sure is that each one has taken the first step. The first step may have been a baby step taken after many years of contemplation or a giant step without hesitation. Which ever one it may be, they are all here together with a common purpose. Each and every parent has ventured here because they are wanting the very best for their child.

I know as I greeted our friends last evening I felt the love and energy flow from their cars and into me so I hope the love and excitement I felt flowed equally into them. Let our common focus of wanting the very best for their child be the goal this week.

I am grateful to all of you as Son Rise Parents for taking the first step and sharing your growth and love with all of us here at the Autism Treatment Center of America.

Much love and excitement to all of you!!

Love,
Amanda

The Journey

From Kate Wilde: Over the last 8 months or so I have been learning Argentinian Tango. For those of you who know me well this may make you smile, as I have absolutely no skill set, talent or body awareness when it comes to dancing, or come to think about it just moving gracefully in the world.

One of the many reasons I started to learn Tango was to explore the idea that we can learn anything if we practise and have a great attitude. That it is all about our attitude and our actions, not innate talent. The attitude I am talking about is very specific.

1. To believe that it is possible for me to become not just a good tango dancer, but a great one.
2.To be completely happy when I do not get it, or cannot understand a step or movement
4.To believe that wherever I am in my learning is the most perfect place to be.
5.Never entertain the thought of comparing myself unfavourable to another.

This is what I teach everyday to my students at The Autism Treatment Center of America. By students I mean the wonderful individuals I am teaching to become Son-Rise Program child facilitators and Son-Rise Program Teachers. They often times will tell me that they are not an, "outgoing person", or a "creative person", or they can't "sing", or they are not "eloquent" and so forth.

Last night I had class with my teacher, who has a great and wonderful "Son-Rise Program' attitude, she is non-judgmental, loving, celebratory, breaks things down, is creative in finding ways to help me, and always answers my many, and sometimes repetitive questions. She said to me, 'you must only think about the journey of the step, not the end result", sound familiar to you? A Son-Rise Program attitude that I had not been applying to my Tango steps.

When you find yourself thinking, "oh I can't to that" or "I am not that kind of person" think again:

Who we are is a direct result of our attitude and our actions.

Love to you on your journey with your children!!
Kate

Giving Control

From Kate Wilde: Hello! Giving our children control is one of the corner stones of the Son-Rise Program. The video below gives a brief demonstration on how to give our children on the Autism Spectrum physical control.

Everyone wants to have control in their lives, our autistic children are no different. In a world that may be over stimulating, unpredictable, and often times confusing we want to show our children that we will respect what they want. When physically touching or moving our children we want to first give them warning and then second look to see whether they want it, are they saying "yes" or "no".

To view this video on face book, click on he title of this blog then on "view original blog" which will take you to where the video is stored.

Much love to you all

Kate

From Katrina - Exclusivity is exciting!

Hello again fellow playroom superstars!

This week I had another amazing example of how being exclusive helps a child grow. We have a lovely little girl here this week who had a challenge being completely stable on her feet. She would often lean into you while walking stairs, or jump at you instead of moving on her own. She started the week interactive with a high attention span. As the week progressed she became more exclusive, one of her isms was walking the stairs and sliding down the slide. As our staff gave her the space to do this on her own, she became more confident and able. On Thursday and Friday she was much more interactive and she was able to easily climb up stairs and slide down instead of jumping at you.

I truly believe that she was using the time she was exclusive to challenge herself and use her new found skill without pressure. By giving her this time we allowed her to find her own motivation to use her feet! Her parents were deeply impressed with her new gait SHE found here at the Autism Treatment Center of America.

There are many reasons that our children are exclusive, and all of them are important and valuable. Let us respect this and join in in order to help them grow!
Love to you all,
Katrina

Socialization: The Doorway to All Areas of Development

Using The Son-Rise Program will help your child in all area's of development.

We have a beautiful young girl in our Son-Rise Program Intensive this week, who not only has autism but also epilepsy which results in her having difficulty standing up, going up and down stairs, being unsteady on her feet, etc..

As the week has progressed we have seen that she has become more skilled and able in using her body. At the beginning of the week she could not go down the slide by herself without her falling off it - now she slides down unaided, smiling and laughing all the way down. It is wonderful to see.

Again and again I see and hear stories like this - when using the Son-Rise Program and helping a child learn to enjoy and socialize more strongly with others (the pivotal area of child development), they also grow in other developmental areas like cognitive, self-help, gross and fine motor skills.

Enjoy your child as they discover themselves, you and the rest of the world.

Love and smiles,

William

p.s. Would love to hear similar stories like this that have happened as you have run your Son-Rise Program with your child.

Building Desire

From Kate Wilde: Building desire within an autistic child to want to connect, interact and create friendships, that is what the Son-Rise Program is all about. If a child has that desire within them, then they are more likely to be spontaneous and to initiate interactions. We want our children to willingly and freely choose us over their exclusive world.

How do we do that?

1. By joining in actively and passionately when our children are isming. This way we populate their exclusive world with people, who are friendly and interested in what they are interested in. Not requesting nor initiating anything of our own. By doing this we give them time and space to initiate interaction with us. If we are constantly offering and requesting during this time we do not give our children that opportunity.

2. Springing into action by responding to all our children's initiations. There are so many; when they look at us; when they touch us; take us by the hand and move us; when they talk to us;when they ask for something whether they communicate their want with a gesture or with words; when they take something from us; when they give us something, even if it is something that they are discarding. All of these are initiations towards us.

3.Respond to these initiations, here at the Autism Treatment Center of America we call them "green lights". Respond with verbal celebrations, and with gestural celebration. Let your child know that you like it when they initiate interaction in this way

.

4. Respond to these green lights with ACTIONS. Get the thing they are wanting, respond to what they are saying with an action, take the object they are giving you and do something interesting with it. If they give you a ball you could roll it, or pretend to eat it. If they take something from you, maybe the train your were holding, offer them another one, if they take that, then offer another. Show them that something fun, interesting and useful happens when they initiate these green lights of interaction with you.

Have fun playing with your beautiful children.

With love

Kate

Video #3- MOTIVATION in Autism Treatment

We are delighted to share with you "MOTIVATION in Autism Treatment - #3 ABA vs. The Son-Rise Program", the newest video in the playful ongoing series from the Autism Treatment Center of America of The Option Institute. As many of you know, love, respect, and MOTIVATION are the building blocks of a wonderful Son-Rise Program, as well as a wonderful extraordinary life.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy6T7FXmnJI

THANK YOU to each of you who have forwarded our previous two videos to your personal network to spread the word and a joyful THANK YOU to the many of you who have contacted us with congratulations, bravo, etc.

We would love for you to pass on this fun video about MOTIVATION to your contacts to keep the viral ball rolling and growing. Our goal is to spread the word worldwide so that every parent in every country is aware of The Son-Rise Program as a viable treatment for their child challenged by Autism. You never give up hope. Neither do we.

With enormous LOVE, respect, and thanks!

What did YOU learn today?

Hey hey from the Autism Treatment Center of America!!

So this week I celebrated my 25th birthday and that got me to thinking. What a journey with The Son-Rise Program I've had, from the age of 21 when I started to volunteer with with families in the UK to today being a professional Child Facilitator, helping children with autism grow, change and recover!

One thing that has kept me inspired and energised through this journey is really deciding to learn from each and every child and adult I work with. They are all so unique, beautiful and special in their own ways - I always leave my playroom sessions feeling like I have learnt something and this helps foster a sense of gratitude and love for my time in the playroom. So, here are my top learnings:

• That it is possible to find beauty in anything: the play of dust in the light, the movement of my shadow, the blur of my fingers as I wave them... Anything I attend to, I can make it beautiful.
• The pleasure of being in the present moment: our children are so attentive and focused - they are so present to their environment, not worrying about the economy or taxes or insurance. My time with them is a beautiful practice of letting go of the outside world and deciding to love, moment by moment.
• That it feels good to love someone. In fact, it's the BEST feeling. From my playroom time I have learnt how good it feels to give so deeply of myself that I need nothing back in return - just giving in itself feels sooooo good!

What are YOUR favourite playroom learnings? Why not write them down before your next session, as way to focus on your love and gratitude for your special child? Maybe you could get your volunteers to write them down and share them in your next group meeting?

Remember, we are always on the journey and there is always something more to learn :)

With 25 years of love,

Jack

Games!

From Kate Wilde: More activities that you can play with your child in your Son-Rise Program playroom. Click on the video below to see three theme ideas you can use with your child to help them verbally and physically participate. (If you are on face book right now, click on the title of this blog, then on "View original blog")

As with any game we post on this blog the game itself does not matter half as much as how YOU play the game. Focus not on what to DO next, but on how much fun YOU are having. By concentrating and building your feeling of enjoyment you will make the game much more appealing for your child to play.

Also, there is no specific way these games are SUPPOSED to be played. We suggest one way to play, but your child may have a very different idea on how they want to play with these photographs. If you are interacting with one another it does not matter whether you are playing this game as you intended, as the goal of each game is to interact, not play a game by the rules.

Have fun playing these games, and let us know how it goes.

With love to you all

Kate

P.S For those of you who have not been able to view my previous video blogs on the blogger, we are in the process of uploading them all onto youtube, we will let you know when they are all completed.

From Bears (Barry Neil Kaufman): ODE TO SAMAHRIA

ODE TO SAMAHRIA: By Bears (Barry Neil Kaufman - Son-Rise Program Co-Originator). Complete Version.



Samahria picked me to love when she was 17. When I presented my writing and ideas with intensity, she tickled me and laughed. When I hesitated, she said "jump." When Raun became autistic, she joined him in his world (in a small bathroom) and helped us begin a three-and-a-half year journey that created a treatment revolution (The Son-Rise Program^®) for children with autism. When I suggested adopting yet another child of trauma as a way to express our gratitude for our blessings, she said "when?" When we started the Institute, she worked with me side-by-side as we created classes and curriculum as well as cleaned buildings and made beds for arriving participants. When I have written my books about our work with families and children and what we and our staff teach to adults (Option Process^®), she has been more than my sounding board but my editor and biggest fan (and co-writer of one of those books and co-screenwriter of the Son-Rise movie). When I asked her to climb down a rope ladder on an ocean-liner during a storm in order to help my dying father, she took a deep breath, pushed through her fear and lowered herself right after me into a tiny fishing boat bobbing in the icy waves off the coast of Alaska.

And, when I am tired at night after teaching, doing sessions and meeting with staff all day (just as she had done), Samahria strolls into my office where I am still working, takes my hand gently and invites me to choose life and go to sleep. We're all blessed for a multitude of reasons. Helping individuals, families and children as best we can for decades is a continuous highlight of our lives. But my greatest blessing is to be loved by my very special life-long bride and best friend and sweet mama to all our children -- she loves me like no other, inspires me to do my best and builds bridges with me to our dreams.

From Katrina - Playroom Theme Song

Hi Guys,
While getting ready for the playroom at the Autism Treatment Center of America today, I was looking up songs that go along with the child's motivation. I found the theme song for Diego, and thought it could be a great theme song for any playroom, so I wanted to share it with you(words have been modified to coincide with the Son Rise program playroom - insert your own child's name) Sing it to the tune of Go Diego Go

Oh... Oh.., Oh... ah
Go YOUR CHILD Go
Deep inside the playroom where love is running wild
Coming to the rescue is a very special child
Talking to her friends and swinging with her arms
This rough and tough adventurer is working all her charms
Yo Viene YOUR CHLID...YOUR CHILD...YOUR CHILD...Go, YOUR CHILD, Go
I am on a mission we're going for a ride
YOUR CHILD is on the road with Son Rise on her side
Discovering together, Yeah we're always having fun
Helping out each other is good for everyone
And there goes YOUR CHILD...YOUR CHILD...YOUR CHILD...Go, YOUR CHILD, Go

Have fun in the playroom!
Love,
Katrina

Not getting what you want

Hi,

Here are some more ideas that we use at The Autism Treatment Center of America to help our children to want to use the toilet.

2) Look for signs! Observe your child and see if they are giving you any clues as to when they are about to go to the toilet.

Do they get quiet and go into the corner? Do they hide? Do they fidget? Do they start to touch themselves? Some of our special children have sensitive guts and may press their belly or roll on their stomachs on a therapy ball when they have a poo coming. Pay attention to how many fluids they have drunk to know when they are due to pee.

The more we can recognise the signs our children are giving us when they are about to pee or poop, the more we will know they are ready for us to introduce the toilet to them.

The Son-Rise Program playroom is the perfect place to do this because it's a low distraction environment where you can be present with your child and really hone in on their cues. Also, if you have a linoleum style flooring that is easy to clean, it isn't a big deal if they have a few accidents along the way.

When you see the signs from your child, it's time to explain that it looks like they have a pee or poop coming. Excitedly encourage them to use the toilet. Whether your child is verbal or not yet verbal, our children still have receptive language, the explanations will educate them and help you to become predictable and easy to relate to.

Call (413)229-2100 to book a 25 minute toilet training consultation with one of our staff. We will give you specific techniques to use that are individual to your child.

More coming soon........

Applying the Son Rise Priciples-Love and Acceptance

Hello wonderful and amazing friends,

Many of you do not know who I am so I would like to tell you a little about myself. My name is Amanda and I am a Son Rise Program Child Facilitator here at the Autism Treatment Center of America in Sheffield Massachusetts. I am a life long resident of Berkshire County and intend to continue to raise my two children here as well. I have a beautiful 6 year old daughter and a wonderful 11 year old son with ADHD. I want to share with you how useful the Son Rise Program has been for me both in my professional life and in my personal life.

When my son was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago (and before I came to the Autism Treatment Center of America) I felt anger and sadness. I was angry because I felt as though I had done something wrong in my parenting and sadness because I felt as though my son would have to live with a "label" for the his life. My own self judgement and self pity lead to feelings of angst toward others including my son. I decided to resent my son's ADHD and in turn resented a very beautiful piece of my son's soul. At this point I did all I could to help him hide his ADHD including seeing a child psychologist and starting him on medication.


Since coming to the Autism Treatment Center of America I have adapted a completely different view of ADHD (as well all Autism Spectrum Disorders). One of the first things taught to us by the Son Rise Program Teacher's is the importance of finding a loving and accepting attitude for others and for ourselves. I immediately looked at this within myself and realized I had not accepted or loved my son's ADHD at all and instead had this belief that is was "bad" for my son. I also did a pretty good job at judging myself and felt worthless as a parent. In an instant, I made the decision to love everything about ADHD and wanted to know much more about it rather than look for ways to prevent it or "fix it". I also wanted to love and accept my own parenting.

Before adapting a loving and accepting attitude, my son felt the affects of how I felt about his ADHD. Our relationship was distant, he didn't participate in sports, he had very few friends, and he hardly left my side. He also had a bed wetting challenge and often had difficulty falling asleep. When I changed my attitude to one of acceptance and love my son seemed to grow before my eyes. He became easy with his ADHD as well. He would tell his friends about his ADHD and they in turn developed a sense of love and respect for him. I have freed myself from being a victim of circumstance and changed to one of opportunity. My son tooo has a gift that he can share with the rest of the world and I want him to love it just as I do. He is no longer on medicine, he has joined the swim team, he hasn't wet his bed in 6 months, and he had his first sleepover at his friends house over winter break. WOW!

I now embrace each moment I have with ADHD and treat it as an opportunity to grow and learn. When I receive letters from my son's teacher's stating that "he had difficulty in class today" I no longer approach my son with feelings of upset but instead approach him with an open, loving heart. No amount of medicine or therapy can compare to the Son Rise Program attitude of love and acceptance.



The Son Rise Program Principles have helped me change my life and it has helped my son evolve into a self loving being as well.

Creativity

From Kate Wilde: Being creative is essential to reaching our Children on the Autism Spectrum. People so often believe that we are either born a creative person or a scientific person. That you are either a "left brain" person or a "right brain" person. Here at the Autism Treatment Center of America, we believe that you can be any kind of person you want to be. As with our children it is all about our motivation, and what better motivation do we have to build and believe in our own creativity than helping our lovely children on the Autism Spectrum.


Creativity is an attitude not a skill that you are born with or without.


As with any attitude it is useful to be clear about what we think. We can nurture our creativity by being clear with what we believe and think. Click on the video below to hear what Son-Rise Program Child facilitators and Son-Rise Program teachers, who work everyday with children on the Autism Spectrum think and believe that help them become power houses of creativity.

From Becky: Potty Fun!

Hi All,

My next series of blogs are going to be about the toilet!!! Yeah for the toilet. Here at The Autism Treatment Center of America we love the toilet, we are excited about the toilet and we have many many ideas that can help your child get interested in the toilet, be motivated to sit on it, and to use it.

1) Get excited about pee and poop! How do we expect our children to be interested using the toilet if we, ourselves are making the pee and poop experience out to be a negative one.

I used to babysit for a Neuro-Typical 2 year old who's parents would make a big face as they would change his diaper and say "Peeeeeeeewww", they would refer to it as a "Stinky diaper" and then as a result, he wouldn't ever want to get his diaper changed and would be controlling around it.

Let's let our children know that peeing and pooping is a natural thing that out body does, it's helpful to us, useful and fun! Our bodies feel better when we do it and everybody does it. If you hide the fact that you do it too from them, then they will never learn how to manage it themselves.

When you need to go for a pee or a poop, tell them what's happening for you, do it in front of them and then give yourself a big cheer for putting it in the toilet. This is great to model with your other children and your partners. Give eachother a high five when you poop in the potty, let eachother flush the toilet after you have done a pee. We need to exaggerate things for our special children so that they take notice.

Let's get pee and poop, out of the closet!

More coming soon..........

Jack's Playroom Stories #1

FROM JACK: I've decided to start writing weekly stories, relating my favourite playroom moments from the week from The Son-Rise Program(R) Intensive here at the Autism Treatment Center of America. As a Child Facilitator for children with Autism and Asperger's syndrome, I have so many moment, every week, that just blow me away. Here is something special from this week:

We are working with the sweetest little 4 year old girl. She has dark brown eyes, cute braided hair and loves squeezes, rubs, tickles and singing. I was watching one of my colleagues playing with this wonderful girl in our playroom, trying to help her say the word "Squeeze". After playfully giving her squeezes for nearly 5 minutes, just playing, having fun and modeling the joy of social interaction, the Child Facilitator explained to this girl the power of her language and lovingly encouraged her to say "Squeeze". There was a long pause - maybe 40 seconds - and then this amazing little girl said "Sss"! Not just once, but three times!

Up until this point, her parents had NEVER heard her use this sound. It was so beautiful and inspiring to be there at the moment that this brave little girl decided to stretch her boundaries, challenge herself, try something new. There is constant inspiration to find in our autistic children, if we choose to see it.

Have fun, my friends!

Love, Jack

Have You Ever Eaten Dragon Soup?

FROM ALISON: Jordan loves Carrot soup and if he got to choose the lunch menu, we would have Carrot soup every day, I want him to eat a variety of foods, here's what I did to persuade him to try Spicy parsnip soup. Introducing our children to a variety of foods can be a battle ground for all parents, but it needn't be. For us Son Rise parents as Son Rise teaches us another way to introduce food to our children - you make it fun!

So first, I checked in with my attitude, how did I feel about introducing the spicy parsnip soup to Jordan? I like this soup so I knew that it was good to eat, I knew it was healthy for him, so I was comfortable that I wasn't trying to poison him. So this felt nice to do. So, my next question was, how attached was I to the soup actually passing his lips and making it all the way down? This has often been the place where I have undermined my effort - being too attached to the outcome, but today I felt relaxed. So what to do, I considered bribing him with a jam tart, if you eat this delicious soup then you can have a jam tart, but actually Jordan would have heard if she needs to bribe me then the soup must be really nasty. Then I realised that actually this would be a technique used in an ABA program - give the child the soup and then reinforce their eating it with a jam tart. So as I have no intention of doing ABA with Jordan I decided to do it differently. With Son Rise we make everything as much fun as possible so that we can be good news for our children - my relationship with Jordan is far more important than whether he eats the soup or not. So enter left stage two steaming bowls of dragon soup, did you know that when you eat dragon soup your mouth gets so hot you can actually breathe fire? So Jordan says he doesn't like the soup, but I tuck in and then with all 3 E's firing on all cylinders I let out a mighty roar and breathe fire all around the room, Jordan roars with laughter, picks up his spoon and starts to eat, before long we are both fire breathing, scaly, giant slaying, castle guarding dragons - absolutely hilarious! Soon I have finished my soup and Jordan still has half a bowlful left, so I become an evil ogre who uses a drink straw to blow cold air over the dragon to put out his fire. Jordan doesn't want his fire put out, so he is now eating the soup as fast as he can to keep his fire strong. So much fun and guess what - Jordan likes Dragon soup!!!

I Bought It

FROM TONI: I was just thinking about the first time a Special Education teacher sat down with me solemnly and said the word "Autism"almost 5 years ago. I will never forget the bottom of my world falling out and feeling completely defeated.

I was completely at the mercy of others to tell me what was coming around the next corner for me and my family and of course my son. I remember watching Zac play through my blurred vision as tears poured down my cheeks in utter defeat... How could I have let this happen? Suddenly I "lost" all knowledge of how to be with my son, simply because someone else, who obviously is more educated and experienced with Autism than I, was describing to me how very little I actually knew about my own child. I went home that day and everything looked the same on the surface, but I was an utter mess. Who is this child that I brought home with me and how do I be with him?

I look back now with a smile and think to myself, "Wow, I really bought that!" Haha

I in fact bought into the idea that I didn't know my child or what was best for him SO MUCH SO that in a matter of a few moments I had transformed myself from a loving mother doing the best I can for an obviously very different little boy, to a frightened fragile woman that was locked in a cage with a complete stranger that would become violent and unpredictable. Isn't it interesting that from that very point Zac became a stranger to me that was unpredictable and violent? All because I bought into a belief, or a personal opinion that was made by someone that had observed my kid for an hour.

Today I am a smart shopper :)

Today I know that I do, in fact, KNOW BEST what my child needs.

After attending the Son-Rise Program Start-Up at the Autism Treatment Center of America, I discovered new HOPE for a child that I had lost all hope for. I believed in him and suddenly I realized that on that day at school the only thing that changed in my world was ME! Since then I have grown to trust, love and respect myself enough that my son notices my world so much more now... Who wants to gravitate towards 'Gloom and Doom Land' when you have lights and music all around you?? What an absolute blessing this life indeed can be! All for the same reasons that I created misery, I now see beauty.

Dietary Interventions

FROM KATE: There is so much great information about dietary interventions for Autism on the web. The link below will take you to a page were the most recent and common dietary interventions are listed and described in an easy and informative way.

http://www.nourishinghope.com/page.php?f=u

For those of you who have yet to explore dietary interventions for your children, this page is a great starting point. Here at the Autism Treatment Center of America, we feel that it is not only important to create a non distracting external environment for our autistic children, but also to nourish their internal environment .

What our children eat matters!

Food effects how our body and brain develop and function, thus effecting how able we are to focus and interact with the world around us.

Enjoy finding out about how you can help your child through diet.

Love to you and your lovely children,
Kate

Joining: ABA vs. Son-Rise Program

If you missed our fabulous new ABA vs. Son-Rise Program video about the concept of joining, check it out on YouTube. The video has already created quite a stir! Please feel free to add your comments to the mix in the Youtube comments section. This is the premier video of a fun series. Stay tuned for the next installment, coming soon. Enjoy!!!

ABA vs. The Son-Rise Program

Imagination Play

FROM KATE: Often times our children on the autism spectrum do not seem to understand the concept of imagination. Favoring more concrete play, or sensory based play such as rides, swings and rough and tumble. Here at the Autism Treatment Center of America we believe in creating interactions around what our children are already interested in, going with our child's motivations. So if they are already interested in books, then we create games around books. If our children are seeking sensory based games such as swings, then, when our children initiate play with us, by looking at us or talking to us we would then offer a swing game.

How do we then introduce the concept of imagination games to children who are not at this moment showing a clear motivation for it?

1.By beginning to model it ourselves.
2.By marrying it to our child's current motivation.

What does that look like?

If your child interacts mainly by your giving them a ride or a swing, then you could marry imagination into that game. By swinging them, and as you put them down after a swing, you could say something like:

"You have landed in a big pool of water, splash." Or you could say, "Now you are landing in space", and then you act as if you are in space without any gravity." Or you could say, " I am going to swing you into the land of soft animals", and get down all the stuffed animals.

In this case you are not asking anything of your child, you are just adding an imaginary component to the play your child already interacts with.

If your child is motivated by books, when your child looks at you or shows interest in you, you could begin to dress up as the characters from the book. You could act out a scene from the book that they are enjoying.

Modeling what imaginative play looks like is the first step to exposing it to our children, and thus helping them digest it and learn about it.
Have a great week with your lovely children.
Love, Kate