Autism Treatment Center of America Forum

[SKP]

Our son Robbie is not on the Son-Rise program yet. He was diagnosed at age 4 and has been on ABA, GFCF diet and going to school for years (3/4 special program, 1/4 reg classroom). Slow progress however, he struggles with speech and comprehension, he often just repeats various things he hears from his video games (DS - Mario) and clips from cartoons he watches on You Tube. If we let him he would play with the computer and electronic games all day. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this sort of challenge and if experience shows that taking away the electronics and introducing Son-Rise may help his focus and speech. We have tried so many things with him (DAN protocol, OT, picture book for language, etc..) but have not really broken through. His speech is mostly limited to asking for various things (juice, food, etc..) in a certain way (robotic), he is still not fully toilet trained. He is a very loving boy who likes to be with his family and smiles and laughs often but we just cannot seem to get progress with communication and we are getting very worried about the future.

[BeckyDamgaard]

Hello!

We are so glad that you have contacted us and would love to help! In The Son-Rise Program we do believe that limiting, or even eliminating electronics altogether can help our children hugely and support their growth in a much more meaningful way. Let me expain a little about this. Our children ism (stim), meaning that in a world that is out of control to them in many ways, they engage in repetitious and exclusive behaviors in order to create predictability in their lives and soothe themselves. TV, computers, video games, etc are the ultimate stim! So because our children already have the capacity to create hypnotic, repetitious behaviors (even without these devices) that when they use these electronics they fuel the autistic part of their personality even more. In essence, they don't need any help being autistic, they can do that on their own.

When we, even Neuro-Typical people use TV, internet, and other electronics, we tend to also become very absorbed and distracted to the point where we are less social with those around us. For Robbie, his electronics are providing more of that same thing that he already has the capacity to do on his own. So it'sa not so much that when you take these things away from him that he stops scripting or verbally stimming, but more that there are opportunities to connect and relate to him more without competing against a machine.

That is where in The Son-Rise Program we prioritize joining in his world, creating a loving and accepting relationship with him and inspiring him to connect more deeply to people around him. From there, we are much more able to model and teach him how to use language in a more communictaive way.

I hope this perspective helps.

[katrinajbennett]

Hi, I was wondering if you ever did join the son rise program. I just heard about it this week, and your son sound exactly like my younger son. Can you post some results of what has worked for you?

[SKP]

Sorry for the late reply. We have not joined Son Rise yet. We decided to try some of the techniques with in room play with Robbie. This has shown progress and he wants to have us in the room with him. The difficulty is with speach, we join with him and then get him to change direction of play into a new area, he seems to respond to this but when we try to get him to commuicate he struggles to find the words, and at times just tries to give us things he may remember that achieved a response from the last time. He seems to think in terms of pictures so we are working on sentence structure with an Ipad tool to help him put words with pictures. Not sure if this goes against Son Rise but I almost see a combination of things required here. HIs mind is searching for the right thing to say and cannot seem to remember the words tied to the action. We do not let him off the hook until he gives us effort with verbal communication and at times prompt him with the right words or fill in the blanks of the sentence. Eye contact is good and he seems very happy but frustrated at times. Still playing computer games and recites various things from them, I cannot help but feel that this is not good for his development but that is his main interest (playing mario with DS, watching cartoon videos on You Tube, playing Wii, etc..), attempts to get him into other things are slow. Seems to respond well to schedules (we will do this then do this then do this...) We could use advice from Son Rise, wish there was other programs that did not involve the week long stay as this is a problem for us.

[BeckyDamgaard]

Hello again,

It sounds like you have been doing a wonderful job with Robbie! That is such a great start! We are actually offering a 3 day Start-Up Program part 1 in London in August this year. Please see the link for more information.

http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/LandingPages/uk/

Right now, I suggest you focus on celebrating him for all of his successes and dropping the challenge a little so that he can have fun and relax. With the best of intentions of helping our children, they can possibly feel on the spot whenwe request too much and words are hard to find.

Cheer him on for the language he is using and drop the requests and prompting. When our children are realxed and motivated language seems to flow more spontaneously. So the more connected and attentive to you in the game, the richer the opportunity to help him learn from you instead of him becoming rote and mechanical. Role model saying the phrases or words that would be useful for him to say in the game and prioritize your enjoyment and appreciation for the fact he is playing with you in a bigger way. It is a desire to connect and relate deeply to others that is his main challenge.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Warm regards,