Intentional speech…persistent, yet patient

I was in the shower when I heard knocking. I though it would be my other kids but surprised it was Nathan. Still skeptical if he was actually knocking or just stimming and tapping on the door, I asked, “Who is it?” Nathan echoed, “Who is it”. I tried to answer in a way that would help. “Is it….NATHAN?” I coached. “Nathan!” He answered accurately!

“What do you need Nathan?” I continued our conversation through the closed door. “You want banana?” He asked. He still gets his pronouns mixed up, but correctly saying pronouns is a social skill that is achieved 2 stages ahead of the current son-rise social developmental stage that he is on, so we’re not in a rush to fix that until he is more ready.

I answered with a task for him, “Mama is still taking a shower, can you go to Ate Juliet in the kitchen and ask for a banana?” I then heard Nathan walking away saying, “Ate Juliet, give me banana please.”

A few minutes later I heard the same knocking. I asked “Who is it?” Nathan insists, “Mama, I want banana please.” Maybe Juliet did not hear him because we usually keep the kitchen door closed. I asked him to try again saying that Juliet has to see his face when he’s asking. Nathan walks away again with a louder, “Ate Juliet, give me banana please!”

After my shower, Nathan already spoke to Juliet, got his banana and was satisfied!

Imagine that! Three years ago, before we found The Son-Rise Program(r), Nathan could not even tell us that he was hungry. He was 5-years-old back then and had no intentional speech. He would use tantrums, even aggression, to try to communicate his needs and we just became good to figuring him out.

Today, Nathan not only tells us exactly what he needs, he can be very, very persistent and yet very patient while requesting. What an amazing journey it has already been. The future is exciting for us!

Blessed with The Son-Rise Program(r)!

In the photo Nathan eating his most favorite snack, bananas!

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The well of strength

Nathan’s health deteriorated as he regressed into autism. One concrete example was he became more and more constipated after age 3 while he was pooping daily as a toddler.

Constipation and built-up of wastes in his body was adding to the burden of autism. Amazing resources from autism parents helped me understand importance of digestive health and daily flushing. We’ve done a lot just to keep Nathan pooping regularly: probiotics, high fiber, drinking lots of water, prune juice, aloe vera juice, juicing vegetables, diet changes, suppositories, enemas, etc. but without interventions, Nathan will poop every 3, even up to 5 days.

I was thinking of completely restructuring Nathan’s diet and considering the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) or Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet. I haven’t started changing his diet yet, but instead I’ve tried something different….

I’m in a chapter in my life where I’ve been feeling God’s presence more and His want for me to reach out to Him. I’ve been spending much time thinking is His blessings and asking for His Restoration of my children’s health. Amazingly, in the last few day, Nathan has been pooping independently! I haven’t even done any major changes in diet or any other intervention. I know God has done this to demonstrate the strength of faith and surrender to Him.

This is such a great chapter in my journey. I don’t have to keep drawing strength from myself. God is happy to carry my burden. What a blessing to know His love for me.

Her Weaknesses have turned into her Strengths!

When Amor was a toddler, she had hearing sensory issues. She would always freakout with the sounds of the vacuum cleaner, public toilet hand dryer and even an electric toothbrush. Son-Rise had greatly helped her overcome it! There may still be a bit of lingering sensitivity, in the sense that she can hear a conversation on the other bedroom that we normally would not notice. But that’s what’s amazing. Since it does not bother her anymore, she can use it instead of hate it. If she wants to, she can use this unique talent and work as a spy or work for NBI when she grows up 😉

Since Amor could not hear songs the way we do, she naturally could not sing them correctly. She was so out of tune and her melody was so off. Nevertheless, I always cheered for her! Despite her hearing issues, I was so happy that she kept singing. Practice has truly made her singing perfect! As she has been overcoming hearing issues, her singing voice has developed beautifully! The greatness of her voice and her eagerness to sing, always gets her to sing solo in most of her school events! Yep, her determination can get her to be a great singer, if she wants.

Amor has a speech delay. At age 3, she could only say a handful of words. Today, though she can engage in meaningful conversations, she is still not at par with her peers. However, she has an amazing ability to pick-up several languages. Last night she was singing the Chinese version is Frozen’s “Let it go”. She picked it up from YouTube and I’m pretty sure it was close to accurate. Back in Japan, she would response to our Japanese translator in Japanese! I had to ask and was told her answers were always appropriate. She also picked-up lots of Japanese from her classmates and used them appropriately. Here in Singapore, she quickly adapted to Singling. At home, she can translate what my husband and I are saying in Filipino. She has a potential career in Linguistics!

She’s only 8 and already I know whatever she chooses to do in life, she will be amazing at it!

We are so blessed to have found Son-Rise. Us seeing everything she does as beautiful, and not as a handicap, has certainly helped her overcome many challenges!

God has blessed us with Amor!

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Great Progress

Nathan’s progress is amazingly fast! Just yesterday we noticed he climbed the table easily. We took it up a notch and got a stool with a smaller surface to support him. Not only did he get up easily, once he got up, he decided he could let go of Jannah’s shoulder and reach for for target (snacks) on his own….”Look mom no hands!” 😉

I was so happy I needed to get a photo of him and his fantastic volunteer. As I got the camera ready, Nathan said, “smile!” with a cute look on his face 🙂

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Son-Rise Program support in Singapore

REWARDS of being a SON-RISE PARENT:
– our kids with Autism look at us with a sparkle in their eyes.
– strong eye-contact soon follows.
– our pre-verbal ASD kids speak for the first time.
– verbal ASD kids start to converse.
– speech explodes.
– our kids come closer to hug us spontaneously.
– our kids express their desire to play with us.
– we hear our kids say “I love you” for the first time.
– our kids become spontaneous.
– or kids become persistent.
– we discover our kids have a great sense of humor.
– our kids crave social interaction.
– as social skills is developed, the foundation for learning is created.

Learn more about it. Several Son-Rise Program® families will be sharing their experiences. They are all at various stages of their Home-Based Son-Rise Programs and implementing it at various intensities (i.e. from no fixed hours/lifestyle application only, part-time program to full-time program). All are seeing amazing progress in their children with autism! Can I just say, two of the Son-Rise moms who will be sharing, are medical doctors!

Come join us:
The Son-Rise Program Question and Answer Forum
April 11, 2015
3:00 to 5:00pm
SCWO, 96 Waterloo St., (S) 187967

Register for this FREE event at:
http://embraceautism.sg/events.htm

In the photo are Son-Rise Program® families in Singapore with Raun K. Kaufman

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Happiness

When I Son-Rise Nathan, I’m usually the one wanting to get close to hug him tight, tickle and enjoy his laughter. But for the first time, Nathan hugged me to hopped on my lap. He smiled and laughed as he asked me for the echo game. It was such a magical moment!

It’s going to be a happy autism awareness month!

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Happy Autism Awareness Month!

Nathan’s autism has been a true blessing.

Nathan makes me a better mom. I have learned to DEEPLY love and accept him AND HIS AUTISM. I’m realizing that this is the best position to be to actually help him grow and overcome his autism.

If I can love and accept something that was once so “tragic” in my life, I can love and accept anything and deal with life easier.

I can love and accept Amor’s sensory issues, irritability due to sensory issues, rigidity and delays. By doing so, I can be more patient (as best I can 😛 ), I can better model flexibility and be more encouraging for her to grow and blossom.

I can love and accept Ian’s need to be a perfectionist. By showing Ian that I’m ok being second (and he’s first), I can teach him it ok to lose and trying/practicing is a better measure of success in life.

I can love and accept my husband’s need for financial security (vs. my financial need to support special diet, biomedical and alternative interventions to help my special needs twins). It makes it much easier for both of us to establish middle grounds.

We are blessed with the Son-Rise Program(r) which has helped us to deeply love and accept whatever challenges comes our way.

God is good!

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She amazes me again!

She amazes me yet again! At the pool, Amor borrowed another girl’s goggles. And yehey the girl was kind enough to lend it! I made sure I celebrated her and told her that her generosity teaches Amor to be generous.

I kept watching Amor to make sure she just doesn’t leave the goggles anywhere. As a routine, I was ready to pick up whatever toys she borrowed (or grabbed from other kids) because she was too distracted to return them. Lo and behold, after some time, Amor took off the goggles, swam to the girl and politely returned them! Like, I need to rub my eyes! Did that just happen?

In the past I used to believe that as Amor got older, her delays became more apparent and the gap between her and her peers would get wider and wider. She would be special-needs forever, I thought. That was before Son-Rise. It is only because of the Son-Rise Program that I can actually feel her socially catching-up with her peers. I know in my heart Amor will grow-up to be an outstanding young lady in her own right!

God is good!

In the photo, my twins and I posed “1,2,3 swim!” before we headed off for the pool.

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