From Becky:
Last week at the Intensive Program here at The Autism Treatment Center of America, I had the privilege of working with an incredible 33 year old Autistic man, his amazing Mother and two wonderful volunteers.
This man had been in an institution for most of his life, having little social interaction or communication with others over that period. His diagnosis of Epilepsy along with his Autism left him experiencing intense seizures every week that took hours to recover from.
At the end of the week I was having a conversation with his Mother and she told me the most touching thing. She spoke with tears in her eyes about how she was inspired by him every day. How after all the challenges that he had faced over his lifetime, he was the happiest, sweetest, soul she had ever known and was teaching her so much about resilience in her life.
As I thought about her telling me this, I reflected on the times I had spent working with this man in The Son-Rise Program focus room. The time I had spent joining him looking through magazines, drawing, and twisting a pen in our hands. The wonderful conversations we had had and the times we had laughed together, we had played basketball, charades and danced the waltz together. As I reflected, I once again thought to myself, I really, really, really do have the best job in the world!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Bob, I have a son who is autistic, Richard was first diagnosed when he was 6yrs old he is now approaching 28yrs. He lives in residential care and has done of most of his life.As a young child he was near impossible to care for. Quite by accident I came across your website on Sunday, and then, amazingly, I spoke to a freind that same night and she, without knowing what had happened, spoke about the same organization. This seems more than a coincedence. I'm not sure where to start, I live in Melbourne, Australia, I'm a single parent with three other chidren, all grown up of course. Could you point me in the right direction.
Regards Bob Garbett
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear from you! We would love to help! I definitely recommend having a free 25-minute Initial Call with one of our Family Counselors.
That will give you more information on The Son-Rise Program and get your questions answered. Please contact terri@option.org to get that scheduled and I wish you all the best!
Warm Regards,
Becky