What you should know about autism

Embrace Autism Philippines encourages parents to join Raun Kaufman’s other Autism Help interactive lectures following the first one last Oct. 1 at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Conference Center in Legaspi Village, Makati City. The event was organized for parents, professionals and caregivers of all ages challenged by Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Asperger’s, PDD and other related development difficulties.

In the lecture, Kaufman discusses key strategies utilized at the Autism Treatment Center of America and by parents of children with autism in more than 80 countries worldwide. His lecture will focus on The Son-Rise Program and its practices of effective methods of autism treatment. This program is an alternative autism treatment based upon the idea that “the children show us the way in, and then we show them the way in.” This basically means that rather than trying to force children to conform to a world they don’t yet understand, it is the people around them who would join in their world first.

Autism is demarcated as a neurodevelopmental disorder that’s now characterized by two core symptoms of impairment in social interaction and communication as well as restricted, repetitive behaviors, which occur in all racial, ethnic and socio-economic groups. It is not a single disorder but a spectrum of closely-related disorders with a shared core of symptoms. Every individual on the autism spectrum has problems to some degree with social interaction, empathy, communication and flexible behavior. But the level of disability and the combination of symptoms vary tremendously from person to person. 

In the Philippines, estimated cases of autism doubled the number from half a million in 2008 to one million in 2014. Anticipatedly, this could be much higher to this date, thanks to better detection methods being applied nowadays.

At the Son-Rise Program, they focus on encouraging children not only to learn but to love social interaction. This is the reason why in this program, parents perform a very significant role because Son-Rise approach is parent-led. That is, parents are empowered to act as facilitators, trainers and managers of their home-based programs. Training parents to implement therapy with their children is more effective than relying on schools or specific professionals to implement therapies reflective to the intensity of the approach. It is widely pronounced that children undergoing Son-Rise show amazing gains in eye contact, verbal and non-verbal communication, interactive attention and flexibility.

The very first Son-Rise child Raun Kaufman will take the lead on the lecture series event. Kaufman was a former CEO of the Autism Treatment Center of America and is now its director of Global Education. As a young boy, he was diagnosed as severely autistic with no language and tested I.Q. under 30. It was then advised that the child Kaufman should be institutionalized, however, his parents Barry Neil Kaufman and Samahria Lyte Kaufman instead developed The Son-Rise Program and worked with him for over three years, enabling him to completely recover without any trace of his former condition.

Kaufman launched his own book some three years ago titled Autism Breakthrough: The Groundbreaking Method That Has Helped Families All Over The World, and has written numerous articles featured in a host of journals and books. And regardless the global success of the center’s campaign, he remains realistic to his pledge to continue engaging in lecture series as well as teaching in universities, conferences and many of the autism centers all over the globe.

And as Kaufman comes back in the country for another series of seminars to be conducted coast-to-coast, getting practical tips that can be used to immediately help treat your loved ones with autism is one of the many takeaways to look forward to in the event. Widely known for his unedited sharp sense of humor, attendees can also witness a Son-Rise child himself and listen to his wealth of first-hand information on how to reach out to children with autism.

Following Kaufman’s first interactive lecture in Makati City last Oct. 1 are three other schedules for the community people to catch on. Lectures are scheduled on Oct. 8 at the Insular Life Auditorium in Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang; on Oct. 10 at the Parklane Hotel, Cebu City; and on Oct. 11 at the Sugarland, Bacolod City.

For more information or inquiries, people may contact Anne at 0977-855808 or Michelle at 0917-8747750, or feel free to send message via the e-mail address [email protected].