Reviews for Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues

The average rating for Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-05-02 00:00:00 Darryl Ellrott I had a serious love-hate relationship with this book especially as a professional who has worked with hundreds of children with autism over the years. That may be why it took me so long to finish it. First of all I am a speech language pathologist and so many issues with the first part of the book. I couldn't figure out why the family kept taking Raun to professional's for evaluations if they felt so poorly about what the professionals were saying and how they evaluated Raun. If your first experience was so terrible why take him back 3 more times?! My biggest pet peeve was that from the beginning when Raun's language skills are described he is only 18 months old and the description given based on my clinical expertise would have placed Raun's language development in the low average range but certainly not severely delayed. In addition IQ tests have never been accurately normed for children that young and I don't know any psychologists, or neuropsychologists (and I have worked with quite a few) who would put much stock in an IQ test administered at 18 months or tell parents there was no hope. 18 months is simply too young to assess a child's longterm prognosis. That stated the program described in detail only lasted about 6 months with the final assessment at 24 months placing Raun's language skills at or above normal at that time. Honestly, his language skills, based on the description given, were always within normal and then proceeded to follow a normal development pattern, again based on the descriptions given in the book. That said I find it hard to believe that Raun was ever severely autistic. Certainly he displayed some attributes of autism but based on the description of language development it was not nearly as severe as so many of the kids I have worked with. I will say I do like the description of the playtime methods used. They are similar to Greenspan's floortime, and the Hanen Program both of which I have used in practice and found very successful with ASD patients. I also liked the emphasis this book placed on the parents need to intervene and work with their own children. Too many times I have seen parents whose expectation is that the professionals are going to 'fix' their child with little or no effort on their part. From my own experience working with children with autism the children who make the most gains are the ones whose parents take what I teach them and apply it daily in their interactions with their children. I also like the hope that is portrayed in this book because the truth is children with autism can grow and change so much more than some anticipate. In my own practice I have seen children go from only working under a table asking for bubbles for hours on end to participating fully in general education classrooms by 1st and second grade and it truly is a miracle when that happens. At the same time I thought the description of this family's emotional journey through autism wasn't very believable or sincere. Sure you can choose to be happy even when given less than ideal circumstances, but sometimes the path to choose happiness is wrought with sorrow and heartache before you get to a place where you can choose to be happy in the face of trial. And this book made it seem like you should just bypass sad and always be happy, an attitude I found arrogant, insincere and denying the need of opposition in all things. If you are always happy, the brightness of happiness fades as you have no other emotions to compare it to. I would be hesitant to recommend this book to parents of children with autism as it doesn't give any real insight on pragmatic activities to do with children to help them. I would much rather have a parent read "It takes two to talk" by the Hanen program. I do think this is an interesting read for professionals and would be very curious as to what another SLP thought of this book.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-11-02 00:00:00 Erik Sexton I picked up this book because I recently started working with a family that does the Son-rise Program with their autistic daughter. The attitude concepts are inspiring: they are good not just for dealing with children, but for trying to stay positive within your own life. At the end of telling Raun's story, Kaufman gives further examples of other families that have benefited from the Options Institute. This was the most interesting part for me, because unlike Raun's story (which I had heard and read so many times from the family I work with and other sources), their stories were a nice change. In addition, the book gives a good idea of the attitudes and frustrations parents of special needs children are faced with. It emphasizes how professionals portray an negative, defeated attitude from the start of meeting an autistic child, and the need for such attitudes to change while treating these unique children. I gave this book 3/5 stars, however, because something about Kaufman's writing bothers me. Kaufman is clear and observant, especially when he describes important moments in Raun's progress. But it's a bit dramatic, whether he is describing a difficult moment or a joyous occasion. And a lot of what he says seems redundant. Also, I felt that the Kaufmans saw professionals, felt discouraged with their attitudes, and then compiled their own program without trying or integrating other therapies that could of helped. Although I understand Kaufman's point in not trying to use old ABA methods, I wondered if there were other therapies Raun could of tried at the time that used behavior modification in a more positive way (like speech therapy)...and why the family did not pursue it/what was Kaufman's opinion of these. Autism research and therapy methods have come a long way since the early '70s. Since this is an updated book of the original Son-rise memoir (original published in late 70's, though the reprint I have is from '94), I would of liked for Kaufman to have had a whole end chapter about his opinion on newer therapies. But that's just my preference. An interesting, quick read that describes an unique experience regarding autism in the family.