I am a natural-born teacher. I've homeschooled all of my children from the time that they were old enough to be attentive. Many of my children have been homeschooled since two years of age. When Levi was a year old, I started noticing that he was not giving me proper eye-contact, and there was definitely something different than what I'd seen with my other infants. I didn't feel like he was responding to me the same way that my other babies had. He also did not have words. As he got older, we realized that the teacher/student role playing that I was accustomed to in homeschooling my other children was not working with Levi and it was as if he didn't understand anything we said to him. When he was 3 we began with assessments and evaluations. Levi was diagnosed with severe "Classic" Autism and moderate "Intellectual Disability" (the politically correct way of saying "retarded"). I cannot begin to tell you what that car ride was like for us as we drove home that evening with Levi. It was devastating to hear the things that they told us that day. And WHY did they have to tell us everything right in front of Levi. We know that he must understand some of what we say, so how much of that did he get? He was spoken about as if he wasn't even in the room.
We figured out early on that the only way to get Levi to notice us or respond to us at all was to stop trying to teach him things he didnt know, but to get on his level. Get into his world. Basically, we needed to let Levi teach us. We watched him. Watched what he was doing, and then did it with him. And he noticed that. We're communicating to him that we think he is so awesome that we want to play with him the way he plays. To do what he does. To make the noises he makes... That we dont think he's weird. For us, it's communication.
That is where Son Rise vs. ABA comes in.
ABA is the western medicine of Austism. Western medicine seeks to treat the symptoms instead of the root cause of the problem.
ABA is built around the assumption that there is no hope for any degree of recovery, and is based on modifying behaviors that are considered undesirable. There are many parents and therapists that are happy and content to use this approach, but there is also a growing number of discouraged and discontented parents and therapists who are not satisfied with the end result of ABA. For many, the end result of ABA is life-long, ongoing therapy and zero hope of recovery. We are among those parents who are looking for a way to conquer Autism, not just cope with it. The Son Rise Program offers real hope that ABA does not.
The exciting thing about this part of our journey with Levi is that the principles that the SonRise Program revolve around, are what we have been doing with Levi for years, except it is an entire program put together by professionally trained individuals. The "SonRise StartUp" will teach us how to maximize our time spent with Levi and use his interest as a highly motivational springboard for learning. We also will have ongoing support to help us along the way! AND, there is story after story of children just like Levi who have recovered from Austim completely and are living the life of a typical child! What parent could not begin to hope?
So.....can I go back to the part of the story where Trevor and I were driving home with Levi after we were told about Levi's diagnosis when he was 3? For much of the car ride we were so heavy and burdened that neither of us could speak, but when we found the words, we told Levi that we were not letting that diagnosis hold him back and that we were not going to let him down. We told him how very smart he was and that Mommy and Daddy were going to make sure that he had every opportunity to be all that Jesus intended him to be. We told him how very much we loved him. And...that we believed in him. We feel that the Son Rise Program is the fulfillment of that promise we made to him in the car, six years ago.
I want to thank all of you again for how you have taken such an interest in our family. Especially our sweet little Levi. We are forever grateful to each one of you. We are so thrilled to be able to share Levi's growth and success as we climb "Levi's Mountain" and it has meant more than you know that so many of you have chosen to join us in the climb!
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