Anybody seen this movie: Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love (1979) ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son-Rise:_ ... le_of_Love
Quote:
Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love is a televised docudrama film that aired on NBC in 1979 and is adapted by the biographical book Son-Rise (currently Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues) by Barry Neil Kaufman. It is the real life story of how, according to his parents, Raun Kaufman completely recovered from severe autism.[2] The film was directed by Glenn Jordan and the teleplay was written by Stephen Kandel, Samahria Lyte Kaufman, and Barry Neil Kaufman.[3]
The film tells of Bears and Suzie Kaufman and their newly born son, Raun. By the time he was eighteen months old, Raun was diagnosed with a perpetual disability known as classic autism—which, at the time, was classified as a form of childhood schizophrenia—and had mental retardation. Accordingly, "although advised to institutionalize Raun, his parents...instead created an innovative home-based, child-centered program in an effort to reach [him]."[2] Subsequently, Raun became typical of neural development and earned his master's degree from Brown University.[2] The film went onto receive the Humanitas Prize award.
The therapeutic, distraction-free play therapy progressed into a teaching model called The Son-Rise Program. By 1983, it was founded as The Option Institute and the Autism Treatment Center of America in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Raun, his family and other staff members currently serve on the board of directors.[4]
Raun Kaufman gives conferences across the United States about his alleged recovery as well as how to utilize the methodology with other afflicted families.[2] Nonetheless, a 2003 study found that there was a strong correlation between patterns of intervention implementation and parental perceptions of intervention efficacy.[5] Moreover, a 2006 study found that the program is not always implemented as it is described in the literature, which means it is difficult to evaluate its efficacy.[6]