April is Autism Awareness Month! Review and #Giveaway for Sensory-Friendly Masks from Easterseals SoCal and Rafi Nova!

Easterseals Southern California Partners with Rafi Nova to Offer Mask Designed With Sensory Sensitivities in Mind

 Sensory-Friendly Face Coverings Available Feb. 8; Portion of Proceeds Benefits Easterseals

 

April is Autism Awareness Month;

Donation With Purchase to Easterseals With Code: ESSC

 

LOS ANGELES — Easterseals Southern California (ESSC), a leading provider of disabilities services, has teamed with socially conscious lifestyle brand Rafi Nova, pioneer of the clear Smile Face Mask, to develop a Sensory-Friendly Mask, available Feb. 8, to benefit children and adults with autism, other disabilities, or anyone who finds wearing a conventional mask uncomfortable.

 

For individuals with autism and other sensory processing challenges or disabilities, mask wearing can be difficult. A face covering introduces multiple new stimuli, including the fabric's sensation, the pressure of tight elastic bands, and the heat and moisture from breath inside the mask.

  

According to the CDC, about one-in-54 children has been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). About one-in-six children aged 3–17 years (17%) were diagnosed with a developmental disability as reported by parents, during a study period of 2009-2017, including autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, blindness and cerebral palsy, among others. Per the Autism Society, ASD is the fastest growing developmental disorder in the U.S. with 3.5 million+ individuals on the spectrum. In the U.S.; 500,000 autistic individuals are transitioning to adulthood.

 

The premier New England mask maker partnered with ESSC to design a mask with reduced stimuli to address the concerns of people with sensory sensitivities. They consulted with more than a dozen of Easterseals’ therapists, other licensed and certified staff, those working with people who receive services from ESSC, as well as their families and other community members. Over a three-month period, multiple prototypes were tested and revised to achieve a maximally beneficial mask—soft, structured, safe, secure—that provides both comfort and function.

 

Commented Dr. Paula Pompa-Craven, Psy.D., ESSC’s Chief Clinical Officer, “There’s little in the marketplace to accommodate people with sensory sensitivities. This soft mask is an outstanding option not only for the autism community, but for all children and adults who I believe will find it uniquely comfortable.”

 

The Sensory-Friendly Mask retails for $14 (child sizes) and $16 (adults). Available in light blue, light pink, hunter green, black and “Over the Moon” (kids sizes only) at: https://rafinova.com/products/sensory-friendly-mask?_pos=1&_sid=402344580&_ss=r

 

A portion of each purchase will be donated to Easterseals Southern California when you use code: ESSC

 

Features of the Mask Include:

• Softness:  100% Mulberry silk lining reduces friction and adjustable jersey knit straps clasp behind the head instead of pinching the ears.
• Structured:  Minimal design and limited seaming. 
• Secure:  Adjustable nose bridge ensures the perfect fit and decreases glasses fogging. 
• Safe:  Special construction lifts the mask off the mouth and highly breathable cotton is used on the exterior.
• Durability: The mask has an antibacterial layer and is reusable and machine washable
•  Ease:  A clasp on the back ensures ease of putting on and removing. When not on the face, the mask may safely remain on the person and not be lost thanks to an extra strap feature that fastens it behind the neck. 
• Social Story:  Comes with a visual storytelling designed by therapists that helps children understand mask-wearing necessity.  

"Masks must be comfortable and functional for everyone. It's that simple," said Rafi Nova CEO Marissa Goldstein. Earlier this year, the company pioneered transparent masks with their Smile Mask launch to restore visual cues to masked communication. In partnership with ESSC, the Sensory-Friendly Mask represents the next generation of the company's inclusive face coverings designed to protect and reconnect communities.

 

About Rafi Nova:

Rafi Nova is a socially conscious lifestyle brand on a mission to outfit families with products and accessories designed for everyday adventures while empowering them to connect, have fun and do more good in the world. Founded as a fair-trade fashion brand to equip adventurous families with sustainably made travel bags, the company shifted focus to face masks to solve the urgent needs of families and communities. Veterans of sustainable product manufacturing, Co-founders Marissa and Adam Goldstein named the company after their two sets of twins and travel partners: Raya, Efi, Noa and Eyva.

 

About Easterseals:

For more than 100 years, Easterseals has been an indispensable resource for people with disabilities and their families. Each year more than 1.5 million people benefit from Easterseals services across a network of affiliates in communities nationwide. Easterseals makes profound and positive differences in people's lives every day, helping them address life’s challenges and achieve personal goals so that they can live, learn, work and play in our communities. 

 

Easterseals Southern California (ESSC), the largest affiliate of the national Easterseals organization, provides services in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Imperial, Kern, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties. With nearly 3,000 employees, 60+ service sites and hundreds of community partnership locations, each year ESSC assists more than 13,000 people, providing adult/senior day services; autism therapy; child development/early education; employment services; veteran employment support; independent living options; and more.

 

For more information, visit: https://www.easterseals.com/southerncal

My Thoughts:  

When I heard about Easterseals and Rafi Nova teaming up to make a sensory-friendly mask I was thrilled! Being a supporter of Autism Awareness, as well as having a younger brother with autism, hearing about these masks made me so incredibly happy. With the stress of the pandemic upon us, the reality is that many with sensory sensitivities are having a difficult time handling the need to bundle up and wear masks. Not all masks are created equal. Some are very bulky. tight, and uncomfortable. Rafi Nova has been making many great and comfortable designs, so I knew that them teaming up with Easterseals would be a great venture! 

When I received my pack of masks, the first thing I noticed was the plush texture. You could tell they were made with love as well as care to detail. My other favorite aspects of the mask is the clasp on the back and the adjustment ability. When I placed it on my brother, it was easy to fit to his face. We both tested out the masks and found that breathing was much easier in them than traditional masks. It felt like a nice cushion on our faces that was not restrictive. I myself have asthma so I appreciated that a lot! The masks were easy to wear while out and their designs are stylish too! 

These masks are such a wonderful creation for those with autism, sensory sensitivities, as well as those looking for a more comfortable fitting mask. Easterseals and Rafi Nova went above and beyond with these. They are made with care, incredibly soft, and durable. You'll feel it right when you put them on. I highly recommend these masks!

The Giveaway: 

Easterseals and Rafi Nova were kind enough to off a giveaway in honor of Autism Awareness Month! One lucky reader will win a pack of masks. I know you all are going to love them as much as my brother and I do! Make sure to use the hashtag #SensoryFriendlyMask if you post on social media! Thank you so much to our sponsors for this opportunity!

Entry-Form

Connect with Easterseals SoCal: 

Website Facebook Twitter Youtube

Connect with Rafi Nova:

Website Facebook Instagram Twitter

Why I’m Going to #LightItUpBlue for Understanding and Acceptance

Since April is World Autism Month, I’ve decided to #LightItUpBlue with Autism Speaks to increase understanding and awareness of autism. This is an issue that has touched the hearts of many people I care about. It’s highly likely that you know someone with autism too since the CDC estimates autism’s prevalence as 1 in every 68 children in the United States.

Autism refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. We now know that there is not one autism but many types, caused by different combinations of genetic and environmental influences.

Autism’s most obvious signs tend to appear between 2 and 3 years of age. In some cases, it can be diagnosed as early as 18 months. Autism Speaks encourages parents with concerns to seek evaluation without delay, as early intervention can improve outcomes.

The “Light It Up Blue” campaign is about more than awareness -- it is about increasing understanding and acceptance of autism.  This includes advocacy and support for people across the entire spectrum throughout their lives. It also includes advancing research into personalized treatments for autism and related conditions.  I encourage you test your understanding of autism by taking this quiz!

Certain medical and mental health issues frequently accompany autism. They include GI disorders, seizures, sleep disturbances, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and phobias.

You can help make a difference too by taking the Light It Up Blue Quiz to see how much you know about autism. If you’re moved to do so after visiting AutismSpeaks.org, please show your support for and understanding of the challenges faced by individuals with autism by sharing a photo to #LightItUpBlue for Autism Awareness Month too. Also, check out Autism Speaks’ nationwide calendar of autism-friendly friendly events and activities in April.

Book Review: Learning to Kiss by Eve E. Megargel

The Triumphant Journey of a Nonverbal Autistic Child into an Adult With An Ability To Communicate That Knows No Bounds

Eve Megargel is a true hero. She is the author of the new memoir Learning to Kiss (Infinity, May 17, 2016) and the mother of a 25 year old man, Billy, who is nonverbal, has severe autism and suffers from a litany of medical issues. Learning to Kiss is a raw and honest account of Eve’s life with Billy as they struggle to identify successful modes of communication he can use in everyday life. 

Eve is dedicated to helping transform the image of people who have autism and nonverbal or limited verbal abilities. Her memoir is a testament to the fact that even if a person cannot communicate with spoken language, they still have the ability to share and learn and live a productive, happy life.

Eve and her husband, Matt, were told to institutionalize Billy when he was two. They refused and began a program, Voicecolors, that has helped him and other autistic individuals with limited verbal skills learn to express themselves and achieve meaningful social connections. When we consider those with limited speech as thinking, complex individuals, they can contribute to society in astonishing ways.

Billy first started to express himself through paintings and has grown into an amazing artist, talented gymnast, and yogi. Today, Billy’s work is in a number of galleries and installed at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Lurie Center for Autism. Billy uses an electronic device to “speak.” He also uses other means of non-verbal communication that allow him to fully participate in his life.

One of the biggest issues autistic individuals and their parents or caregivers face is communicating with medical staff. Beginning in his teens, Billy often visited hospitals for testing and medical procedures. There, the staff prohibited Billy’s parents from accompanying him beyond the waiting room, despite their insistence. As a result, Billy became angry and ripped the IV out of his arm. He refused to cooperate simply because he didn’t understand what was going on and was not provided with a way to communicate that was right for him. Often, those who are nonverbal, or have low verbal ability are never given a chance to make their own decisions about healthcare, or anything else. Driven by these experiences, even among compassionate medical professionals, Eve created a questionnaire to be given to autistic patients during hospital admission, which has improved communication between medical staff and autistic patients.

April is Autism Awareness Month and this year’s campaign is not only dedicated to awareness, but also to encourage the general public to accept and recognize the potential, instead of the deficits, of those on the spectrum.

About the Author

Eve Megargel is an author, educator, filmmaker, and pioneer in advocating that all individuals on the autism spectrum are independent communicators who are capable of self-expression and social relationships. Eve consults, collaborates, and engages on key autism issues and initiatives with several organizations, including Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston’s Jewish Family and Children’s Services. She is a member of the MGH Family Advisory Council and the Lurie Center Leadership Council. Eve received her master’s degree in Theology from Harvard University, and her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She lives with her husband Matt and son Billy in Weston, Massachusetts.

VoiceColors Communication Resource Model

The Voice Colors® educational mission is to provide people on the autism spectrum opportunities to learn, develop and cultivate independent self expression grounded in social relationships. As a communication resource model, Voice Colors® provides parents, educators and service providers comprehensive information about how to establish, develop and refine communication systems or methods of instruction that will enhance the individual’s present and future social interactions and thus life experiences.

Purchase Learning to Kiss at buybooksontheweb.com. 

Visit Eve at evemegargel.com, and check out VoiceColors on Twitter, Vimeo, and Facebook.

Our Thoughts
I was interested in this book from the get-go since we have a non-verbal child with autism; we've faced many of the same struggles as Billy although our son is not on the severe end of the spectrum.

Learning to Kiss is a collection of memories; both struggles and triumphs as Billy and his family navigate the uncharted world of autism and the complex medical issues that can come with it.  Not surprisingly, the modern medical field is still currently not well equipped to treat individuals with autism - not just because the medical issues can be so misunderstood, but because hospital staff often simply do not know how to handle the situation or communicate with the patient.  Many individuals like Billy have routines they must follow in order to get the task (whatever it may be) accomplished.  Hospitals have policies and don't always allow patients to break those policies depending on their individual needs. And then to add the non-verbal element on top of it all - without their communication systems, they have NO voice, a struggle we personally know all too well. 

People (sadly, some therapists and doctors included!) assume that because one cannot communicate verbally or with sign language, that one has nothing TO communicate, which is the biggest mistake of all! One of the memories that particularly stuck out at me was from the chapter "Wake Up Call" where the coordinator for special education says "Bill needs to learn to comply." and Eve answers it with "No, Billy needs to learn to communicate."  This, right here, has been an integral part of our struggle.  It was only finally understood when I fought for, and received, the label of Autism when he was 4; he was then given therapy services that would not have been offered until he was much older. He also has Down Syndrome, and I was told by the school they do not offer speech therapy services for Down Syndrome unless the child is not speaking by age 6 - 7, which frustrated me beyond belief!  I can only hope that their experience with our son has changed their mindset about childhood communication.

Back to the medical part - while our son does have health issues, thankfully they are manageable at home with strict diet and TNI (Targeted Nutrition Intervention) and he is under the care of a wonderful osteopath.  If we were to have a hospital visit, there is NO WAY we could let the medical staff separate us from our son because he doesn't yet have a reliable means of communication.  How could he possibly answer any questions or tell them anything?  If they ask what's wrong or what hurts, he cannot answer yet. With motor apraxia, he may not be able to perform any tasks they ask him to do.  Like Billy, our son is completely non-verbal, and with motor apraxia he is also mostly unable to sign.  We have been working with a speech device; it is still a work in progress and will be for quite some time yet - but he can sure say a whole lot more on his speech device than the few words he can sign.  Eve has created a questionnaire to be given to autistic individuals (and their caregivers) at hospitals so the medical staff can understand their specific needs.  I don't know if this questionnaire is widely available at hospitals & clinics across the US, but it SHOULD be!  We as patients and caregivers of patients, need to start asking for this questionnaire to get the ball rolling.

Eve also touches on that there are no "Autism specialists".  The medical conditions that can arise with autism can be so complex and so unique at the same time.  Doctors have yet to understand what behaviors are driven by what, and whether they are connected to a correctable medical issue or not. 

Learning to Kiss is a riveting read; a window into the both complex and vibrant life of Billy and well worth the read. 

 

Dinosaur Train Meet Dennis in the All-New Episode “Junior Conductors Academy” on Wednesday, April 6 As Part of Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month and The Jim Henson Company is embarking in a brand-new episode “Junior Conductors Academy” in which Buddy and his siblings become friends with a dinosaur who knows a LOT MORE about dinosaurs than Buddy, but has some trouble making friends. Like all dinosaurs, their new friend Dennis Deinocheirus has his own dinosaur features. And, like all of us, he has strengths in some areas and challenges in others.  PBS stations across the country are hosting screenings and events for this special episode and Dinosaur Train has teamed up with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” initiative, aiming to improve early identification of children with autism and other developmental disabilities so children and families can get the services and support they need.  Learn more at:http://www.pbs.org/parents/dinosaurtrain/more-dinosaur-train-fun/autism-awareness-month

Join us on April 6th via Twitter @DinosaurTrain as we introduce the newest member of the Dinosaur Train family, Dennis.  Share the attached Dennis coloring sheet with your readers and kiddos, and show us what your kids think about Dennis using #MeetDennis.

Additionally, we’d like to share the attached, Learning To Be Curious: Lessons From The Jim Henson Company’s Dinosaur Train on PBS, an essay from Dr. Stephanie Meyer, a child psychologist with over 20 years of research and clinical experience in the field of child psychology who served as a consultant on this very special episode for you to share with your readers.

Be sure to catch this and all the new episode. Check your local PBS station listing for times!http://www.pbs.org/parents/dinosaurtrain

Review: Sleep 'n Sync

Helping Children Achieve Their Goals

The daily stresses in a child’s life are typically caused by test-taking, bullying, anxiety, and many other things. Deborah Hamui, founder and CEO of Sleep'n Sync was highly aware of this information when she created Sleep'n Sync- a revolutionary, audio soundtrack that helps children become more receptive and acquire skills needed to live optimistic, successful lives, while they are sleeping.

Implementing audio with an engineered background soundtrack with binaural beats, Sleep'n Sync synchronizes the child’s brainwaves, creating greater receptiveness while the child is asleep. The program includes audio that should be played on a daily basis while a child is sleeping, during a relatively short period of time. Results are evident in as little as six weeks.

Sleep'n Sync offers programs for many of the challenges that children face every day, such as: test-taking skills, autism, ADHD, bullying, reading comprehension, communication skills and more! 

Every child deserves the opportunity to:

• be happy and satisfied
• do well at school
• have strong, healthy relationships
• be flexible and adaptable
• feel great about themselves

Sleep and Learning

What does sleep have to do with learning?

Many studies have shown that sleeping good and enough improves our learning, and although the information we learn we take in mostly when we are awake, we need to sleep it out to actually get it soundly learned.

Why? Because sleep participates in the consolidation of our fresh memory.

How? The brain-cell clusters that are activated when we learn when awake are activated again when we sleep, right after that awake period, suggesting that the brain connections that were formed when we were taking information in when awake, are reactivated when we sleep, therefore relearned and stored in the right place.

Research has demonstrated that even a nap in the middle of the day can help us learn, and that we need to sleep enough to function properly and learn effectively when we are awake. When we try to study, let’s say for a test, and we study over and over the same information, but we don’t sleep enough time, we do not get it soundly established in our brain.

And if we pretend to take in too much information before we sleep, through the night or just take a nap, our brain doesn’t get it. Studies have found that our learning worsens over the course of several sessions of learning, when we do not get sleep. This means that we can take in a certain amount of information properly and then we have to give our brain the chance to secure it in our memory through sleep…in other words, we can “burnout” as we study too much information in a session, or series of sessions, with no sleep periods in… So we have to understand that to really learn, we need to get some sleep…enough sleep to get everything properly registered in our head.

Memory and Sleep

How does the brain process the information and experiences that we have during the day at night when we sleep?

At night, our brain does not follow a simple process of input and then storage; our brain has a complex process that involves many interconnections between the many different neurons in different areas that participate in such a process. This process involves taking the sensory information from our most recent experiences, selecting what is relevant, discarding unnecessary information, and associating all this with other stored information from experiences that we lived before, that is, from information that was previously processed and stored in our brain. 

In this process that happens when we sleep, relevant information is “filed” and reorganized in the right place so that we are able to retrieve it when we need it. This action of accessing and retrieving information can be a conscious or subconscious action.

Let’s say a girl is having piano lessons, and she needs to learn and practice a certain melody. Her piano instructor showed her the melody, its rhythm, its sound, etc., however the girl has to practice it so that when she plays the melody at the closing piano ceremony of the end of the year, which is coming soon, it comes out perfect. She tries practicing the day her instructor introduced her to the melody, but she is not comfortable with the outcome, so she doesn’t practice the following 3 days. Then, on the 4th day she practices the melody and she performs incredibly well. What happened? She didn’t practice the melody for a few days and then she does great!!!The explanation to this outcome is that her brain did practice the melody when she was sleeping, she rehearsed and practiced playing the melody in her sleep, for 3 nights. So when she played the melody on the piano while awake, it came out really well, she did practice and rehearsed the melody.

Sometimes the time our brain needs to process daytime inputs in longer periods of sleep, and at different stages of sleep. It is known that the different stages of sleep provide the ideal state to process different kinds of input. This means that some input from one experience may be processed in the immediate sleeping period, while other inputs of the same experience may be processed in later sleeping nights.

Sleep'n Sync offers many different programs to help children achieve their goals, including those on bullying, flexibility, anger, test taking, and reading comprehension & communication skills:

Bullying eBook

Flexibility-I

The goal of Sleep'n Sync is to empower children with the skills needed to overcome their obstacles. For additional information on the product, please visit www.sleepnsync.com.  You can also visit Sleep'n Sync on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Reading Comprehension and Communication Skills

Our Thoughts

We have a child who has both motor and speech apraxia as well as other diagnoses.  At age 6, I'd definitely like him to be more independent, but I know things are hard for him since his body doesn't cooperate with what his brain tells it to do.  We also deal with a lower emotional maturity, so there's been a lot of defiance and hitting on his part - only with me, however - he behaves for most other people.  That behavior has been wearing on me and we needed a change.

Sleep'n Sync offered to send the Flexibility I program, which includes both an audio track and binaural beats soundtrack.  The Flexibility I program is designed to help a child be more, well, flexible - more open to change, trying new things, coping with change and being able to be confident about changes and themselves.  Fear and anxiety can hold a child back - the thought "I can't do it" becomes "I can do it", which later becomes "I will do it" and then "I am doing it!"

This program is incredibly easy to do - after our son fell asleep for the night (you can use it during naps too, if your child naps), all we had to do was hit "play" on the CD player and walk away.  He listens to the program every night while he sleeps. (Sleep'n Sync warns do NOT use while driving!)

Each program comes with a nice little guidebook for using the program and includes helpful tips for helping your child overcome adversity.  The guidebook includes detailed evaluation forms, so you can keep track every week on the progress he or she makes. 

While some children may show progress right away, others may take longer. Sleep'n Sync recommends the child listen to the program for at least 6 weeks, or longer. Our son began showing improvement in his ability to do new things and ask for help when needed during the second week.  By the fourth week, we were seeing much more improvement, and now 6 weeks into it, he is showing improvement in almost every area, including behavior. This program has come to us at a serendipitous time; we are increasing his speech, occupational, and physical therapies this year and having him be open to the coming changes is needed in order to accomplish what he wants to do most: talk.

The price is very reasonable and I would recommend Sleep'n Sync to any parent to help guide their child to be more flexible and adaptive! 

Book Review: Autism Breakthrough by Raun Kaufman

 

AUTISM BREAKTHROUGH

The Groundbreaking Method That Has Helped Families All Over the World

by Raun Kaufman 

Conventional wisdom on autism offers parents little hope. But in his revolutionary new book, AUTISM BREAKTHROUGH: The Groundbreaking Method That Has Helped Families All Over the World, Raun Kaufman argues it doesn’t have to be that way. Autism can be effectively treated and even a cure is possible – he’s living proof!

As a boy, Raun K. Kaufman was diagnosed by multiple experts as severely autistic, with an IQ below 30, and destined to spend his life in an institution. Years later, Raun graduated with a degree in Biomedical Ethics from Brown University and has become a passionate and articulate spokesperson for the autism community with no trace of his former condition.

Thanks to The Son-Rise Program, an incredible program his parents created, Raun experienced a full recovery from autism. In Autism Breakthrough, Kaufman presents the ground-breaking principles behind the program that helped him, and thousands of other families with special children. Kaufman explains that autism is frequently misunderstood as a behavioral disorder when in fact it is a social relational disorder. He explains what it feels like to be autistic, and shows how and why The Son-Rise program, which focuses on the parent-child connection, works. And he offers clear, practical strategies for working with children that readers can apply immediately—in some cases, parents see a change in their children in as little as one day. Autism Breakthrough makes available for the first time in book form the principles and practical applications of The Son-Rise program, presented by someone who not only teaches the program, but has experienced the joy of it in his own life.

After his diagnosis with severe autism at age 2, Raun’s parents refused to accept his bleak prognosis. Rejecting traditional (and ineffective) behavior modification methods, they tried the opposite approach: rather than change their son’s autistic behaviors, they “joined” in his activities. In doing so, they forged a bridge from his world to theirs. 

Flash forward to today—Raun is a thriving Ivy-league graduate with no trace of autism. With his parents, he runs the Autism Treatment Center of America whose world-renowned Son-Rise program—based on the groundbreaking methods that helped him recover—has helped thousands of autistics worldwide progress significantly and many fully recover.
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RAUN K. KAUFMAN is the Director of Global Education for the Autism Treatment Center of America. As the key spokesperson for ATCA and the Son-Rise Program, he conducts lectures and seminars worldwide and has worked with families and professionals for over 15 years. Kaufman has been featured on NPR, BBC, Fox News, and in People Magazine. He co-hosts the radio show Raun & Kristin: Bringing Hope Into Your Home on Autism Approved Radio.

Purchase Autism Breakthrough on Amazon. 

OUR THOUGHTS
My 5yr old is on the spectrum.  Autism Breakthrough is right up my alley; it coincides with my way of thinking! I KNOW my son is in there, and it's up to me to bring him out, same as when he had seizures, and was delayed because of them.  People from doctors to family all said the delays were to be expected because of his genetic condition . . . but I didn't accept that then, and I don't accept that now.  We've already proven our theory quite a bit!  I was incredibly excited to read Autism Breakthrough, about the Son-Rise program because it calls on strategies I hadn't heard of. 

It took me awhile to figure out what "ism" my son does, because it's not the typical ones - he doesn't repetitively stack blocks or line up toys or spin wheels or anything like that.  He dangles objects.  He's not completely in his own little world when he does it, usually while reading or watching a video, but it's the only behavior he does that isn't typical to a little boy.  So, I "joined" him in dangling objects . . . and he LOVED it!!  That first day, we had so much better behavior and improved eye contact the rest of the day! Initially I thought his eye contact with me was fine, but after doing one of the exercises shown in the book I realized his eye contact still has a long way to go; he only does fleeting glances.  He might watch me for awhile, but doesn't meet my eyes for more than a few seconds at a time.  A few days later (continuing to "join") he for the first time, invited me to dance with him to music and I got a full 9 seconds of eye contact!  Therapists have noted he has better eye contact as well.  Now, a couple weeks later, he invites me to "join" with him several times per day.

I am excited to try out the Son-Rise program to bring out his speech; I'll give it my best shot, but I'm not sure if verbal speech will happen since it was taken away by his seizures.  He has proven he can talk (perfectly and coherently) in his sleep, so there's still some hope in my mind.  We're already "playing dumb" to help him communicate as best he can.

I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend Autism Breakthrough to every parent with a child on the spectrum.  Not only that, but all therapists should read it too!!  ALWAYS believe in your child.