SON-RISE PROGRAM EYES

At the Autism Treatment Center of America™ we have helped thousands of parents and volunteers help their children on the Autism Spectrum. Please read on to reveal that with eyes of acceptance we can embrace our children.

In working with our heroes recently (moms and dads blessed with children with Autism) at the Autism Treatment Center of America, I introduced the perspective of creating Son-Rise Program® Eyes: not only seeing our children through the eyes of acceptance and inclusion, but practicing having those eyes in the lunchroom, in a supermarket or when visiting our families.

Practice beholding all people with the same regard with which we embrace our children in our Son-Rise Program playrooms.

Love, 
Bears

Barry (Bears) Neil KaufmanCo-Founder of the Option Institute™ & Autism Treatment Center of America™, Home of The Son-Rise Program®, Author: Happiness Is A Choice, Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues and No Regrets. 

I CAN or I CAN’T?

Did you know that it is up to you to choose your beliefs? Please read on to reveal that YOU can choose how you view every situation in your life.

Common knee-jerk reaction to situations:
"This is bad for me, and/or I can't handle it." The Option Process® alternative: "This is good for me and/or I can and will handle it."

Different belief filters through which to view a situation:

• The first belief filter brings on stress and discomfort (and, with them, decreased immune system function).
• The alternative belief produces comfort, even excitement (healthy immune function).

Unhappiness = discomfort/disease. Happiness = possibilities for greater health/healing. AND THE KICKER IS: WE CHOOSE OUR BELIEFS, which determine whether we will be happy or unhappy. What freedom! What possibilities!

Try this: pause after your next pessimistic knee-jerk reaction and do an optimistic REPLACEMENT BELIEF. You can do it. We have taught thousands and thousands of folks HOW to do it. Nothing to risk, nothing to lose. Go ahead, flip some beliefs and let me know what you did! 

Love and Smiles, 
Bears
Barry (Bears) Neil Kaufman

Celebration has results

Dear Friends,

Please enjoy this inspirational story of Raun K. Kaufman's very own Son-Rise Program journey.

In the 1970's, when our son Raun recovered fully from Autism through The Son-Rise Program, he accomplished this for several reasons.

1. We never judged his unique repetitive behaviors as inappropriate or "bad."

2. This allowed us to freely join him in his world of Autism. (Whenever he rocked, we rocked; whenever he flapped his hands, we flapped ours.)

3. Because we'd created this safe and supportive environment, Raun could express himself while those around him (volunteers we trained) showed him caring and appreciation. 

As a result, Raun became extraordinarily motivated to dare to do what was so difficult for him, though easy for most typical children. Taking miniscule steps, he would allow himself to look at us for only seconds at a time (after avoiding eye contact for over a year), and he would push himself to make sounds in an attempt to form even the simplest words (though he had been essentially mute). As a child with Autism, he had always pulled away from being touched. But now he began to allow us to give him small tokens of affection - touching his hand or tapping gently on his leg. We celebrated his every move - smiling, applauding, and cheering.

As we watched Raun move out of the safety of his self-encapsulated universe and inch into our world, we believed his developing abilities must have been supported by neural growth ... as if Raun had pressed himself to grow or reconfigure his neural pathways to support his reaching out. (Neuroplasticity certainly hadn't been talked about then.) Some clinicians smiled with skepticism at our assertions. However, more recent research in the rehabilitation of stroke victims supports our understanding of the body's ability to reconstruct itself neurologically in response to a person's motivation to reclaim the ability to move limbs or walk or talk. We joined Raun in his behaviors with passion and love. In turn, he became inspired and motivated to do what appeared nearly impossible. Today, with our staff, which includes Raun as one of the senior teachers, we continue to help thousands of families, teaching them how to help their children to take the same healing journey that our son took years ago.

Love and Smiles, 

Bears 

IN HER EYES AND IN HER HEART!

In the morning, she could crawl across the room beside a child tracking an invisible path over and over again -- laughing, tickling, loving. In the afternoon, she would speak passionately about possibilities and give guidance to moms and dads who came to our home from around the world to learn how to help their children with autism. At dinner, she would embrace her own six children with ease and caring and with endless patience to listen to the stories of the day and encourage communication, always sharing affection with big smiles and gentle touches. Later, she could put on a blue shirt with a simple scarf -- and look in my direction, then take my hand and hold it so very tight -- IN HER EYES AND IN HER HEART! She never stopped...the next day, another family to help, another mom to console, another dad to inspire, another child to understand and love...then always turning to her own children with the same concentration and caring...then back to me. Maybe it was because we worked together throughout the day...and carried the same torch and the same vision -- that I never felt separate from her, even if we were in separate rooms or different buildings. But I also always could stand apart and look at her and think, "Thank you, God, for my best friend and for my amazing girlfriend and this lovely angel in my life."

It's been decades since I took this photograph...and as I gaze at it and share it with you, I am aware that I see even more beauty, more wisdom, more laughter, more joy than ever in Samahria, still my very best friend and my amazing girlfriend and now a lovely angel not only in my life but in the lives of thousands and thousands of people.

Thank you, Samahria

~ Bears Barry Neil Kaufman (Co-Founder with Samahria Lyte Kaufman of The Option Institute, The Son-Rise Program and the Autism Treatment Center of America & Author of "Happiness Is A Choice" and "To Love Is To Be Happy With" and "No Regrets")

Award Winning Autism and Asperger’s Treatment FOR ALL AGES coming to the UK!

The Son-Rise Program ®, awarded Best Autism Therapy at the AutismOne National Conference,  is offering a 3-day training program in London THIS SUMMER!

·         To learn more about The Son-Rise Program, the Autism Treatment Center of America is providing a Complimentary Internet Presentation/Webinar hosted by international Autism expert, Raun. K. Kaufman, himself fully recovered from Autism thanks to The Son-Rise Program

·         Thursday evening 16 May 8:30 PM London time

·         Watch on your home computer or mobile device

What will you learn in the Internet Presentation/Webinar?    

• Benefits and overview of The Son-Rise Program – what makes this award winning program unique among Autism treatments
•   Easy and effective Son-Rise Program  techniques to use at home with your child
•   Details about The Son-Rise Program Start-Up  training course in London
•  Financial Assistance information for webinar participants
•  Ask about your child’s specific needs in the special Question & Answer session with Raun Kaufman

Who will benefit from this Internet Presentation/Webinar?

•  Parents in the UK and Western Europe with children of any age challenged by Autism, Asperger’s and other developmental difficulties
• Parents not satisfied with their child’s current Autism treatment

We look forward to seeing you this summer in the UK!

To learn more about this Internet presentation/Webinar and to register, click here: http://bit.ly/15kZm5K

The First Son-Rise Program® Playroom

Dear Sweet People,

Please enjoy this inspirational story of the very first Son-Rise Program® Playroom and its influence on so many parents, children, professionals and volunteers.
[Photo Notation: Samahria and Raun in the first Son-Rise Program Playroom]

This is a photo of Samahria working with Raun in our bathroom (the first Son-Rise Program Playroom). We chose this space because it was free of distractions. The space was small and intimate. In this room, Raun, profoundly Autistic, made his first meaningful eye contact. In this room, he allowed us to touch him instead of pulling away. In this room, we created a human bridge which allowed us to cross into his world so one day he could cross back into ours. As many of you know, after three and a half years, he emerged from his Autism and today he bears no sign of his original condition. Today, as a lead teacher and trainer at the Option Institute™/the Autism Treatment Center of America™, he travels the world lecturing, giving presentations and working directly with families. It all began in that tiny bathroom.

Now The Son-Rise Program is WORLDWIDE. What exactly does that mean? In our last Son-Rise Program Start-Up training program (in which we taught folks how to carry out the program with their children) on our 100-plus acre campus in western Massachusetts, we had moms, dads, and professionals attending from Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, India, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, S. Korea, Tanzania, Uganda, England, Ireland - and, oh, yes, from the United States, from New York, Texas, California, Hawaii, Colorado, North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota and many other states. It's helping more and more children (from more than 90 different countries) by using a very loving, respectful method that treats these children like the gifts they are.

With Love and Smiles,
Bears
Barry (Bears) Neil Kaufman Co-Founder of the Option Institute & Autism Treatment Center of America™, Home of The Son-Rise Program®, Author: Happiness Is A Choice, Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues and No Regrets.