Son-Rise

Son-Rise is an autism treatment program developed by Barry Neil Kaufman and his wife Samahria Lyte Kaufman. They derived the program largely from their own experience with their son.

History

In the early 1970s, advertising executive Barry Kaufman published a book, Son-Rise, about his son Raun Kahlil's "triumph over autism." Raun apparently had regressive autism subsequent to a series of ear infections. He was never diagnosed autistic, and may simply have had some slight speech and developmental delays with ritualistic behavior. As he describes in his book, Kaufman and his family "chose to feel happy" about Raun's condition. They tried to communicate with Raun not by overt attempts to force neurotypical behavior, but by imitating his endless rocking, plate spinning and other rituals, while gently introducing eye contact, speech, song, etc. for him to imitate if he would. The Kaufmans claim that Raun gradually emerged into a completely neurotypical child. Raun's story seemed to support the model of the "real child" trapped in a shell of autism.

Treatment and Philosophy

At the Option Institute children on the autistic spectrum and their parents receive training in hopes that the child will "choose" to connect with them. Few of the techniques are unique to Son-Rise, many resembling those employed in Dr. Stanley Greenspan's DIR/Floortime model, but a distinguishing feature of Son-Rise is its application of Kaufman's own personal growth philosophy directed at the parent. The program emphasizes loving and accepting the child just as he is, which might seem to counter the explicit goal of the program. That is, the parent desires the child to change, but for the child to change, the parent must cease to need that change. The solution to this paradox promoted in Son-Rise is a philosophy that rejects the connection between personal happiness and the circumstances one finds oneself in. Hence, the institute's motto (and title of another Kaufman book) Happiness is a Choice. In the context of autism, this means not allowing one's happiness to be contingent on the child "overcoming" autism. This theoretically helps the parent engage constructively with the child without becoming discouraged, frustrated or coercive. To date, there has been no independent research into the effectiveness of this program.

Some ex-members describe Options as cultlike, while some autistic individuals feel that Options is not geared for all autistic persons and that its goals are unrealistic.

References

• The Association for Science in Autism Treatment (ASAT) maintains a Description of the Son-Rise Program.
• Kaufman, Barry N (year of publication unknown). Son-Rise. publisher unknown. ISBN 0–44630–645–2.
• Kaufman, Barry N (year of publication unknown). Happiness is a Choice. publisher unknown. ISBN 0–44990–799–6.
• Son-Rise official site.
• A negative opinion regarding Son-Rise.