When we were first learning that Mia may have Autism I reached out to families I knew that had children on the spectrum. My cousin has a son who was diagnosed years ago. She told me about a week long workshop in Massachussets at the Autism Treatment Center of America. She said she has always wanted to go, but couldn't get it to work due to scheduling. The workshop was called SonRise.
I went to the SonRise website and watched the introdutory videos. The program was started by the Kaufman family. Their son was diagnosed with Autism in the 70's. Much was still unknown about Autism back then. Doctor's told them their son most likely would need to be institutionalized. They began working with him on their own. They developed a technique where they locked themselves in their bathroom with him. They worked on connecting with him in an environment with little distraction. They imitated his behaviors. If he would spin a plate over and over again they would get a plate of their own to spin. If he played with his spit and they played with their spit.
This relationship of trust and acceptance opened the door for their son to want to imitate his parents behavior. Through years of intensive room time, they were able to bring their son out of the Autism diagnosis. They were and still are seen as radicals by many in the Autism community. Traditional techniques would use the carrot and the stick method. Reward the child for good behaviors. SonRise teaches us to embrace the Autistic behaviors rather than to steer away from them.
My father in law, Chuck and I flew into Albany and made the two hour drive to Sheffield Massachusetts. The drive was beautiul, hilly and wooded. A deer jumped in front of our car, I slammed on the brakes and he scampered away untouched. It was dusk when we pulled into the parking lot. To the right we saw a huge manor in the middle of a clearing.
We grabbed our roller bags and went into the cafeteria to check in. Two women were sittng at one of the tables. One had a clip board. Neither of them acknowledged us as we stood in front of them. Chuck spoke, "Hi, we're Chuck and Jamie Ohmer we've signed up for the week long workshop". "Chuck and Jamie" she said. I was starving so I scanned the room for something to eat. There was a plate of bran cookies that looked homemade. I'll just eat tomorrow I thought. "Jamie this is Stacey, she'll be your roommate" the woman with the clipboard said. "Hi" I said as we shook hands.
We walked to our dorm, the floors had red carpet. We were expected to take our shoes off and check them into cubby's before entering the hallway. When we walked into our room, we discovered there was no TV. The only decoration on the walls were heavy rugs that seemed to be made on some sort of loom.
I felt a little dizzy. I wasn't sure if it was because I was tired, hungry or overwhelmed at the thought of sharing a room with a stranger with no TV to cut the awkwardness.
