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Son-rise program

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Hello everyone,

 

Sorry its been a long time since i have been on this site and i apologise if i never replied to posts. We are still having problems with K and the eldest one (whats new) just needed to concentrate on gettings things done around the house as we have workmen who have put up scaffolding becuase they are painting the outside and i have had to try and organise putting up proper curtains (ones that close properly)and we have had to take the eldest one (after a whole year,whoopee he finally gave in)and we all went to IKEA to get a wardrobe. That journey was a nightmare just to get a wardrobe. Anyway.

 

In recent weeks, the son-rise program has been running and thought we would attend. I actually went on my own the other night (thursday)and my other half is thinking of going today. Just wanted to know what people think about it. I tried to search this site and could not access any info.

 

Is this scheme to good to be true ?. Have people benefitted from this organisation?.

 

Many thanks.

 

Sarni

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Hi.

I do not know a great deal about the son-rise programme but for what it is worth I do have a large alarm going off in my head.

 

I think there may be no information here because people here do not subscribe to it.I think it requires a huge financial and time commitment from parents and offers promises of results which are not backed up by sound research evidence.

 

For example a cure for ASD , huge dramatic rises in IQ ,a child who was non-verbal who is now completely articulate and at a top university,a reduction in seizures as a result of behavioural intervention....all described with more fervour than the most zealous American evangelical preacher. :huh:

 

I may be wrong but please do not advise your other half to buy into the programme until someone here comes along and says I am thinking of the wrong thing. :)

 

Karen.

Edited by Karen A

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Hi sarni -

 

Pretty much as above.

SonRise regularly claims to be offering a 'cure' (which of course it doesn't,) costs many, many 1000's of pounds and man hours to facilitate, with no evidence whatsoever that it 'works' at all. What does happen is that a percentage of autistic children who are started on the programme reach a level of functioning that allows them to walk onto a stage and appear to be 'fully functioning' (I use that term purely from the POV that sonrise might use it, not because i think it appropriate), but the reality is that a similar percentage of autistic people who've never been anywhere near a sonrise programme also reach a similar level of functioning. My son, for example, could certainly appear as 'fully-functioning' as most of the kids Sonrise trot onto a stage at their annual conventions, but it would be a total fabrication to call him cured or to pretend that his autism didn't cause major compromises in his everyday life.

The worst thing about Sonrise is that it 'demonises' autism and by extension autistic people - some of it's advertising has bordered on religious fervour, with autism represented as taking possession of children, something that needs to be 'driven out' of them. It is, IMO, pretty sick, actually. where they have 'successes' (hem hem) they trot them out on stage and present them to the world at their annual convention. Where their system 'fails' the blame is invariably laid on the doorsetp of the parents and/or autistic person - in the latter case as being 'resistant to being cured' and in the former for being too lazy or ineffective or stupid to carry out the programme effectively. With no refunds or guarantees, it's a win-win situation for the lovely people (counsellors?) paid to offer support, and - whoppee do - everyone whose child does reach a level of functioning that will attract an endorsement is pretty much qualified as a counsellor themselves! Some might see associations with pyramid selling in there(?)

 

Dunno if you watched that documentary about scientologists the other week, but one thing it demonstrated quite clearly is that a small child brought up and indoctrinated into an alternative culture or system of belief will usually grow up to believe, endorse and promote that culture or system of belief. That's pretty much the basis of all 'fundamentalist' belief systems, but it in no way implies there's any actual basis to the beliefs.

 

Hope that's helpful, and whatever decisions you reach regarding your son I hope he is able to achieve everything he is capable of achieving.

 

L&P

 

BD :D

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Very much endorse what has been said.

 

Just remember that there is no cure for Autism. Its not an illness. It is a state of being.

 

Anyone who offers a "cure" for autism, especially when they want lots of money for the privilege, is someone to steer clear of, IMO that is.

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Have people benefitted from this organisation?.

Yes, the heads of the organisation. To the tune of many millions of pounds, I wouldn't doubt. :shame:

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Saw this piece in what was then my local paper:

 

Treatment helps break down autism barriers

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 23:00

 

PARENT carers without the financial backing to send an autistic child to the United States for pioneering treatment have been told they can access funding from a community-minded mother in Mid Devon.

 

Gretchen Oldland, who lives near Sandford on the outskirts of Crediton, has raised funds so a youngster living in the county can access a course that helped her eight-year-old son Victor.

 

The Son-Rise Program, provided by the Autism Treatment Center of America, strives to help children with autistic spectrum disorder to develop language, attention span, eye contact and flexibility exercises, while providing parents the skills needed for their upbringing.

 

View the full article and make comments here.

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