A Son-Rise practice that has helped me a lot!

*Catch the good behavior before it turns bad and don’t reprimand bad behavior.*

Example: I know whenever I take my daughter, Amor, to the grocery, I know there might be struggles like her insisting to buy junk food or wandering off to the rides instead of going to the grocery. I would really like that she follows my instructions all the time.

Before I found Son-Rise, whenever Amor wandered off, I used to use a stern voice to make her follow me. That worked initially but in the long run, she became a more irritable child and harder to control. I, on the other became so much more frustrated and started to over disciple her. I was disregarding that her misbehavior was brought about by her sensory problems and not intentional. I felt like a terrible parent, unable to make Amor follow simple instructions.

After learning Son-Rise: before we’re off to the grocery, when she puts on her shoes upon request, I celebrate, “Wow! Thank you for putting on your shoes, you’re so good at following Mama’s instructions!” She smiles and I know that reinforces her good behavior. Throughout our grocery “outing” I look for every little thing to praise her like: thank you for waiting so nicely for the elevator, thank you you’re holding Mama’s hand while crossing the road you’re such a good girl, etc.

I spend a lot of time looking for good behaviors to praise and end up never needing to reprimand or pull a crying-child-who-wants-playground-time home.

More importantly, that feeling that I will get a heart attack because I’m so frustrated that I’m such a bad parent…all gone.

I love Son-Rise.

One of those OMG moments.

When Nathan picks up a book, card or paper, he prefers to ism with it like flap it or tap it with his finger tips.

I watched him pick up this magazine and choose to look at the appliances on each page ;-). He turned the page and continued scanning the pages. He looked so neurotypical scanning a magazine for several minutes. I walked over to see what he was looking at and he accurate said, “computer.”

Simple pleasures in life 🙂

This was Nathan at age 2 1/2. He could sing whole songs and hold and strum a guitar. His developmental neurologist, at this age, said that he has cerebral palsy (difficulty controlling his legs) but told us not to worry about social skills. He had impressive eye contact and speech.

Slowly Nathan lost words of his nursery rhymes and started humming. A year after this video, Nathan lost all the words. Only humming was left. Nathan lost his interactive attention. He lost his eye-contact. He was not even able to answer simple questions like “What is your name?” Nathan would put everything in his mouth, including his favorite guitar. He lost the ability to play with toys appropriately. Even the guitar would end up in his mouth. He became easily agitated. At age 4 he was given the autism diagnosis.

This is his video at age 6. Without intervention, Nathan can keep regressing into autism.

What happened between age 2 to age 4?

When parents say that their kids with autism were injured by vaccines, they know what they are saying. When Nathan was 2 1/2, we returned to the Philippines for physical therapy. Unfortunately that period was accompanied by aggressive vaccination out of fear that he could easily catch a bug and get sick. Ultimately it was my decision and I was so wrong!

Our family is fine. We are blessed to have found son-rise, deepen our love and acceptance for Nathan, embrace his autism and choose to be happy with our circumstances.

But future generations could be saved! I want parents to know that if your kids are healthy, they will probably be fine…they will be one of the 49 out of 50 kids unaffected by vaccines.

But today, 1 out of every 50 children are in the autism spectrum. And the number is growing. There is reason to study if your child is at risk or if the vaccine is relevant at all.

This is fantastic! By shopping in Amazon Smile, I automatically donate to my favorite non-profit organization: The Autism Treatment Center of America, home of The Son-Rise Program! It won’t cost you an extra penny but it certainly will help another family in their journey with autism!

From the Autism Treatment Center of America:
“Without spending a single extra penny you can donate to the Option Institute & Autism Treatment Center of America simply by signing up on smile.amazon.com. I’ll bet that most of you will be doing some of your Holiday shopping online — and it’s likely that at least some of that online shopping will be on Amazon.com. It’s so easy anyone can do it in just a few seconds. You can give to help so many create better, more fulfilled lives with one little “click.”

Simply go to smile.amazon.com — sign into your Amazon account. On the next page enter “Option Institute” to find us as your charitable institution – click “Select” and you’re done! From that point on a small portion (.05%) of the money you spend on Amazon.com will be donated to us! This is a great boon to us with the Holidays fast approaching. Won’t you please take just a few seconds right now to sign up on smile.amazon.com to give hope and empowerment to others every time you shop on Amazon.com?”

My reflections as I ran a half marathon.

When the road takes you uphill, think of it as an opportunity! For me it’s a way to conquer mind over matter.
– Nothing is either “good” or “bad.” Only judgement dictates how you see conditions in front of you. Autism is neither “good” or “bad.” I choose to see my son’s autism as a blessing. It has certainly made me a better parent and a better person, able to love my son (and other people) asking for nothing in return.

That lucky lady had super long legs! It felt like for every long stride she took, I needed to take 3 small steps to catch up! But why compare…it only means I need to take my tiny steps and move a little faster.
– Everyone’s situation is different. Some families have more than one special-needs kids, some have more resources to pay for therapy some don’t, some have helpers to assist some don’t, some have supporting spouses some don’t, some have more volunteers some have less, etc. Given what I have, I can still find different ways to effectively run my Son-Rise Programs…I just have to take those small steps and move a little faster.

When a 3-lane race turns into a 1-lane bottleneck, just when you feel the energy and are ready to increase speed, there is not use getting upset about it (I almost did). The cause is external, why resist? Enjoy the time to relax pace and save the energy for later.
– Sometimes, especially with biomedical interventions,
autism symptoms get better or regression might happen. I cannot control regression. All I can do is relax knowing that Nathan is simply trying to get over a hump….soon we will be on a 3-lane road again and we can run a faster pace again.

Run your own pace. Instead of trying to catch up with the runner in front, or feeling good that there are runners behind, I focused on my pace, gaged my energy, sprinted when I had energy and rested when I needed to conserve.
– Early in my journey with autism, I used to envy parents with kids who had milder forms of autism thinking they would get to the finish line long before we even get a glimpse of it. But I’ve learned that the use of envy only drains the energy I need to keep me going. Today I choose to celebrate all the parents with special-needs kids and cheer for all their successes. Instead if my energy being drained by envy, my energy is enriched by celebrating others.

After writing it all down, running a Son-Rise Program for autism sounds so simply and easy. Well, it’s not as easy but I have had constant help from The Autism Treatment Center of America. Along the way, I have met and kept in touch with amazing Son-Rise parents and volunteers who inspire us to keep running our Son-Rise marathon.