“Reading Autism Breakthrough brought chills to my body and tears of joy to my soul. This book must be read by every parent of a child with autism who wants a step-by-step plan to reach and transform their child. I was there in person when Raun K. Kaufman’s miraculous story began. His full recovery from severe autism – through The Son-Rise Program® that his parents developed to reach him – changed my life and the life of my daughter, who showed all the signs of early stage autism. Today she thrives because I knew exactly what to do: ignore all of the dire predictions and immerse her in precisely the principles and techniques described in Autism Breakthrough. I couldn’t recommend this book more enthusiastically – not only for those who love a child or adult with challenges, but for all parents and professionals. This book turns the all-powerful principle of unconditional love into a practical blueprint that anyone can follow.”
— Dr. Wayne Dyer, Author of The Power of Intention and thirty other books
“I learned more about my daughter by reading this book than I have through all of the others I’ve read over the 11 years since her diagnosis. In Autism Breakthrough, Raun K. Kaufman shares his personal journey with his signature enthusiasm and energy. Similar to his speaking style, Raun writes as if he’s having a personal conversation with you in your living room. If you’re a parent of a child with Autism, this book truly is a must-read. With case studies, step-by-step instructions and an accompanying website, it’s an invaluable resource that may prompt you to rethink what – and how – your child can best learn and progress to meet their full potential. No matter how old your child is, Autism Breakthrough can help you to connect with them in ways you may have never thought possible.”
— Wendy Fournier, President – National Autism Association
“Diagnosed as severely autistic, Kaufman was the first to benefit from The Son-Rise Program for curing autistic children, developed by his parents, and here offers a practical and upbeat introduction for parents seeking to use the program’s strategies. Now director of global education for the Autism Treatment Center of America, Kaufman explains how The Son-Rise Program frames autism as a social-relational disorder, rather than a behavioral disorder, and recommends meeting the child where his own interests lie in order to build a personal bond. His methods for working through four milestones of socialization—nonverbal communication, verbal communication, interactive attention span, and flexibility—offer a helpful road map, with methodology further explained in online supplements to each chapter. He offers an academic paper about empirical research on the program as a nod to skeptical readers, but his chapter espousing nutritional approaches to autism throws him back into the fringe camp. The most appealing aspect of the author’s approach is the limitless hope he offers to discouraged parents: “what your child has done (or not done) up until now tells you nothing about what he can do in the future.” His personal faith in the program, his warmth, and the targeted application of principles will encourage readers to try his methods even if they are undecided about the supporting evidence.”
— Publishers Weekly
Agent: Stephanie Tade, Stephanie Tade Agency. (Apr.)
“Autism Breakthrough provides enormous help to those who care for someone with autism. It contains a multitude of principles, techniques, and approaches based on Raun K. Kaufman’s personal experiences not only as an educator, but as someone who endured the many challenges of autism as a child. His chapter on helping people with Asperger Syndrome is a revelation. The Son-Rise Program ABC model that he outlines will be embraced by every reader as he guides everyone on a path toward achieving their full potential.”
— Lawrence P. Kaplan, PhD, founder of US Autism & Asperger Association (USAAA) and author of Diagnosis Autism: Now What?
“Autism Breakthrough is remarkable. Raun K. Kaufman has done a stellar job weaving together sensibility, science, and the meticulous learning from his own life experiences as a boy with autism. He presents an approach that is accessible to all parents; a way of being that empowers them to become the “expert” for their child. Building on parents’ innate desire and ability, he provides and easy-to-understand framework and practical exercises that help nurture and nourish children’s mind and body – things you can do with your child, in your own home. Raun shares the eye-opening perspective that turned his life around and that’s helped countless children around the world. Parents of a child with autism would gain from its many insights.”
— Julie Matthews, BS, NC, Leading Autism Diet & Nutrition Specialist, Co-Founder of Nourishing Hope®, Author of Nourishing Hope for Autism: Nutrition & Diet Guide for Healing Children
“Autism Breakthrough is truly a unique, amazing book and an absolute essential for parents of and professionals working with children on the autism spectrum. Raun K. Kaufman provides a well-written, accessible (and humorous!) breakdown of The Son-Rise-Program, based on his personal story as well as his experience working with countless children with autism and their families. The Son-Rise Program, shown to improve communication and social skills in people with autism, uses a rich set of treatment procedures grounded in scientific principles, with current research attesting to its efficacy. Indeed, if I had a child with autism, I would definitely, with no question, select The Son-Rise Program to help him or her.”
— Cynthia K Thompson, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurology at Northwestern University, world-renowned researcher in the brain and language processing
“The director of Global Education for the Autism Treatment Center of America chronicles how his parents pioneered a new treatment for autism after receiving a grim prognosis of his condition.
In 1974, doctors informed Kaufman’s parents that their 1-year-old son was so severely autistic that he ought to be institutionalized. He was unresponsive and transfixed by inanimate objects and repetitive activities. The parents rejected this advice and, fortunately for the author, decided to go it alone, relying instead on their own experiences as professional educators. Kaufman explains their approach. As they saw it, their primary task was to develop a relationship with their son. They spent hours sitting with him, imitating his behavior patterns, including hand flapping and rocking. Gradually, they built a foundation for communication, and their son began to respond. They created games to use as learning experiences, and in just five years, the author writes, he was on the road to full recovery and able to attend school. In 1976, his father, Barry Neil Kaufman (No Regrets: Last Chance for a Father and Son, 2003), wrote Son Rise, the first of his many self-help books. Then the Kaufmans opened the Autism Treatment Center to share their methods. (Their children, including the author, now run the center.) Avoiding the techniques of behavior modification, the methods promoted by the center help parents understand how repetitive behavior patterns give autistic children an illusion of control—autistic children deal with sensory overload by shutting out their environments. The center offers motivational tools and training for parents and caregivers on how to structure an emotionally safe environment in which children can experiment with new social skills. Kaufman includes links to training guides and three appendices.
An innovative, alternative approach to creating a child-centered environment that directly empowers parents and caregivers.”
— KIRKUS REVIEW
“If you are the parent of an child on the autism spectrum, Autism Breakthrough by Raun K. Kaufman was written just for you. It describes a fantastic treatment method – The Son-Rise Program – for families dealing with the challenges of autism. In my practice of psychiatry in a teaching hospital over several decades, I have never been introduced to a set of clinical principles as powerful, elegant and effective. The outcomes are truly stunning: children make concrete and sweeping progress, often far outstripping their original prognosis, and parents overcome feelings of devastation and learn to accept, enjoy, and meaningfully help their children. With humor and caring, Kaufman answers the question “What do I need to do to create a wonderful relationship with my child?” Autism Breakthrough not only provides the reader with clear techniques and documents amazing clinical outcomes, it is a testament to the impact of hope, love and acceptance in our lives! I personally see applications of the principles in all clinical endeavors.”
— Ted McCarthy, M.D. , Former Chief of Psychiatry, Mercy Hospital
“With Autism Breakthrough, Raun K. Kaufman has done what few else in the field of autism treatment today would dream of doing. He has empowered parents to take charge again, given them real hope for positive change, and armed them with specific tools and techniques to make those hopes a reality for their children. Our children are not “stuck” with neurological problems. Autism is not hard-wired. I know this as fact, for my own son fully recovered from autism to become the president of his 6th grade class today (in a regular, mainstream school) thanks to my family’s adoption of the very principles of The Son-Rise Program that Raun explains in Autism Breakthrough. As a medical professional, I know that medicine today offers little to these children other than a dismal prognosis. It doesn’t have to be that way! Not only do many children completely recover using this program, but whole families change and grow and thrive.”
— Wendy Edwards, M.D., Pediatrician, B.Sc.N., F.R.C. P. (C).
“Raun K. Kaufman’s book, Autism Breakthrough, is an amazing resource to help you right here and right now to make a huge difference in your child’s progress. His super easy-to-digest guidance on using the techniques of The Son-Rise Program is a game-changer. Given the program’s record of success, the Autism Hope Alliance has funded families to take Son-Rise Program courses at the Autism Treatment Center of America. If you are the parent of a child on the autism spectrum, Autism Breakthrough will give you a whole new way to help your child and take away that nagging fear that so many of us parents feel. My own son is the beneficiary of the principles explained in Autism Breakthrough. I gave birth to my son, but The Son-Rise Program gave him life.”
— Kristin Selby Gonzalez, President, Autism Hope Alliance (AHA)
“Raun K. Kaufman has given humankind a roadmap for our journey to unravel the autism mystery. He takes his readers on an exciting adventure from the “real world” outer reality to the “autistic” inner reality. Too long have well-intentioned professionals, educators, and authoritarian child-raising paradigms created more barriers between those two separate worlds. In my forty years in the field of disabilities, I have observed how well-intended behavior therapists with their sophisticated behavior plans have created more unwanted behaviors than benefits. Nevertheless, slowly our field as well as the world is evolving because of pioneers like Kaufman, from outdated authoritarian controlling to more gentle, humanistic, and holistic relationships! Individuals with autism may feel like exiled strangers in the outer world, and perhaps some may even feel imprisoned by our foreign cultural norms because no one understands their language. With practical analogical illustrations, Kaufman invites us to commune with individuals on the autism spectrum to discover the nature of their personal reality with all of their unique multisensory nuances and perspectives. Autism Breakthrough provides common-sense approaches on how to establish harmonious, humanistic relationships based on trust and unconditional allowance and acceptance. Autism Breakthrough is a successful guide in how to empower people on the autism spectrum to relate and thrive in our day-to-day world and a significant contribution to the awakening of humanity to neurodiversity.”
— Ken Routson, Author of The Gifts of Autism & Alzheimer’s and Beliefology
“Autism Breakthrough truly breaks through the “autism is a life long condition” paradigm and shifts hopelessness to hope. As occupational therapists and international lecturers, we will be highly recommending this wonderful “user-friendly” resource with all the principles, strategies, and techniques needed to support children and adults with social-relational challenges. A must-read, not only for parents but for all teachers, therapists, and staff who support those on the autism spectrum!”
— MarySue Williams and Sherry Shellenberger, Creators of Alert Program®, Authors of Alert Program® books, games and trainings
“Insightful, personal, and accessible. A hopeful message and one which only a person that has looked through the eyes of an autistic child could offer. Autism Breakthrough is a must read for all parents of special children, its depth will touch you, and practical advice will empower you to join your child on their journey toward achieving their unique and limitless potential.”
— Alex Doman, Author of Healing at the Speed of Sound, Founder & CEO Advanced Brain Technologies, creators of The Listening Program®
“was glued to it. I was really impressed. Autism Breakthrough is a gift to everyone who reads it.”
— Laurie Mawlam, Executive Director, Autism Canada Foundation