Over coming fear with Son-Rise

Very recently, Amor was so afraid of dogs…or anything furry that moves :-). As she expressed her fear of dogs we would encounter at the playground, I was reminded of that look on her toddler face when she would hear and fear the hand dryer or vacuum cleaner or even an electric toothbrush. She had hearing sensory issues as a toddler.

When doggy Yuki first visited us, Amor screamed and locked herself up in one of the rooms just to stay away from Yuki. Despite such fears, I though it would be a good idea to doggy-sit Yuki. I was sure we could help Amor manage her fears. To do so we did everything we learned from the The Son-Rise Program®

We explained to her that doggy Yuki was going to be with us for a few days, making everything as predictable as possible for her.

We respected her “no” and kept the dog far away from her when she was expressing discomfort.

We kept inviting her to try again. We celebrated tiny attempt she made to inch closer to the dog, and respected her “no” when she was not ready.

I kept a positive attitude that Amor would be ok…in fact great. She has always been able to conquer all her challenges and fears, I was sure this was going to be another one she would check off her list.

Sure enough, it didn’t take too long for Amor to overcome her fear of dogs. Yuki has only been with us for a week. Amor was friends with her on the third day! This morning, Amor was throwing a ball and getting Yuki to fetch it for her several times as she giggled as Yuki run about.

In this photo Amor was asking Yuki to give her paw 🙂

Son-Rise has always been the best way to help my kids (autism, GDD or even neurotypical) to overcome many challenges with so much ease and pleasure and in such a short amount of time.

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“Do you know Mama Chris?”

As I prepared for a presentation, to recruit Son-Rise volunteers, I realized the amazing leaps Nathan has made!

Three years ago, when Nathan was 5 years old, before I even knew about The Son-Rise Program®, Nathan did not respond to his name. I didn’t even know if he knew what his name was. I didn’t even know if he knew I was “Mama” or if he knew “Papa”. I used to sing, using the muffin man melody, “Do you know Mama Chris, Mama Chris, Mama Chris? Do you know Mama Chris, she loves you very much.” I never got a response from him. Yet I would sing that song to him every night.

Today, not only does Nathan recognize his name and my name, Nathan calls all his Son-Rise Volunteers by name…and also all of Amor’s Son-Rise volunteers by name! Even new volunteers are easily recognized by Nathan.

Nathan was never taught the names of his volunteers in a flashcard/classroom lecture-way. Nathan was never drilled and asked what his volunteer’s names were. Instead, Son-Rise volunteers have been coming to love and accept him, to build relationship, to be user-friendly and convenient to socialize with and to be his “best friends”. Of course, Nathan has been happily taking efforts, stepping out of autism, to get to know his volunteers too!

It’s an amazing autism journey, thanks to The Son-Rise Program!

Best friend Taka

Taka has always been curious and has actually learned to “Son-Rise” Nathan by following how teacher does it. He “joins” Nathan, entering his world is autism first. As a result, Nathan “steps out of his world” takes a lot of interest in Taka. I love watching them play together!

These are photos of them after their Christmas concert (in Hawaii).

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