The Son-Rise Program®

The Son-Rise Program is a powerful and effective treatment for children and adults challenged by Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), Asperger’s Syndrome, and other developmental difficulties. The Son-Rise Program is different than – even opposite to – almost everything you’ve been told to do to help your child. Our program shows how joining children in their own unique worlds before asking them to join us in ours makes it possible for these special children to reach new heights!

We had offered Online Training Courses in The Son-Rise Program methodology for parents, professionals and caregivers. Consultation and counseling sessions had been made available for those seeking individualized help. The Son-Rise Program was awarded “Best Autism Therapy” at The National AutismOne Conference and continues to be a leading innovative and successful alternative therapy program. Over the past 40 years, more than 45,000 individuals, families and children from over 140 different countries had attended programs these programs.

FOUNDERS & HISTORY

The Son-Rise Program was created by authors and teachers Barry (“Bears”) Neil Kaufman and his wife Samahria Lyte Kaufman, when their son, Raun, was diagnosed with having a severe and incurable case of Autism and they were advised to put him in an institution. The Kaufmans instead, designed an innovative home-based, child-centered program (The Son-Rise Program) in an attempt to reach their little boy. Their unique program, which marked a complete departure from all existing methods of treatment, resulted in his emergence from autism. He transformed from a mute, withdrawn child with an IQ of less than 30 into a highly verbal, socially interactive youngster with a near-genius IQ. Raun went on to graduate from an Ivy League university, was a director of an educational center for school-aged children and eventually, for a period of time, he taught and assumed directorial roles in The Son-Rise Program and in his parents teaching center. He later became an author and created his own programs which he offers others.

Following the publication of Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues, which documents their journey with their own son, the Kaufmans wrote a screenplay of the book, that went on to became an award-winning NBC TV movie Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love seen in over 90 countries in the world. After this, the Kaufmans were flooded with requests for help. Responding to this demand at that time, they established The Autism Treatment Center of America and The Option Institute®. Bears Kaufman additionally wrote many other books sharing stories of their work with other children, families and adults as well as books like Happiness Is A Choice which documents the underlying philosophy and educational perspective that underlies many of the programs they have created over the past 50 years. There are over three million copies of Kaufman’s books in print in over 65 countries.

In addition to raising their three biological children, they chose to adopt three more children from circumstances of trauma, as a way to express their gratitude for what they had learned in their journey with Raun. One of their adopted sons had been seriously malnourished, resulting in physiological, motor and other challenges. Bears and Samahria worked with him and he thrived, demonstrating a keen mind and a wonderful ability to learn. Another son, whose mother had died and who had his throat slit by his birth father, found support, guidance and love in the expanding Kaufman family. Their adoption of an eleven-year-old girl from El Salvador, also a trauma survivor, completed their immediate family. The Kaufmans have passed this tradition on to their own children, some of who have adopted children from similar situations, further expanding their multi-racial, multi-cultural family.

We have seen that children and adults on
the autism spectrum can:

• Learn to speak, even if they’ve never spoken.
• Experience real happiness, satisfaction, and love, even if they seem frustrated or combative right now.
• Have deep, meaningful, caring relationships with others, even though they may have appeared disconnected for years.
• Have fun, reciprocal conversations, even if they have a history of rigid communication.
• Make close friends, even if they don’t start with the interest or the tools to do so.
• Live a life that may include college, dates, sports, jobs, hobbies, travel, girlfriends/boyfriends – regardless of how many of these life experiences their parents have been told were simply not possible.