They are also the originators of The Son-Rise Program®, created when their own son, Raun, was diagnosed as severely and incurably autistic. The Kaufmans’ groundbreaking program transformed Raun from a mute, withdrawn child with an I.Q. of less than 30, into a highly verbal, socially interactive boy with a near-genius I.Q. Bearing no traces of his former condition, Raun graduated from an Ivy League university. He became an author and teacher in addition to lecturing at universities, conferences and symposia worldwide.

Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues, the story of the Kaufmans’ work with their son, became a bestselling book and was adapted into an award-winning NBC-TV movie, Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love, which has been viewed by millions of people worldwide.

Over the decades, individuals from over 100 different countries on 6 continents attended programs at The Option Institute® and the Autism Treatment Center America®.

The Option Institute® and the Kaufmans have been featured in over 2,000 articles and programs published or broadcast in major media. Among them are The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Self Magazine, Parenting Magazine, People Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Good Morning America and in interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Phil Donahue and others.

The Kaufmans’ books and works have been endorsed by such well-respected figures as President Jimmy Carter, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Coretta Scott King, Dr. Carl Rogers, Bernie Siegel, Norman Cousins, Lou Holtz, John Bradshaw, Harold S. Kushner, Dr. Carl Simonton, Joanne Woodward, and Paul Winter, among others.