Liam's Program
At its core, Son-Rise is a child-centered, play based intervention that focuses on the social development of the child by tapping into his internal motivation, creating meaningful learning that is fun and interactive. Deep respect for the child and a non-judgmental attitude are essential elements of the program. As facilitators, we seek to join Liam in his interests and “isms” (exclusive and repetitious behaviors) in order to create a strong bond with him that supports his openness to interact with us. When Liam shows signs of interest in interaction (“green lights”) such as talking to us, making eye contact, or watching what we are doing, we work to build an interaction with him that is fun and motivating. When building interaction, the facilitator assumes responsibility for the creation of the interaction and makes it easy and inviting for Liam. Once he is engaged, we challenge him to grow by making direct requests of him such as increasing his expressive language, looking into our eyes more frequently or for longer periods of time, or adding on to our play to achieve more complexity. The facilitator is always very aware of Liam’s interests and motivation, playfully persisting in requests, but willing to follow his lead again should he show signs of disinterest. We seek to inspire growth in Liam by identifying specific goals we want to achieve, and then brainstorming interactive games to help him acquire these goals. This could be anything from playing a board game by the rules, to understanding and using pronouns more completely.
All of Liam’s learning occurs in a specially designed Son-Rise Program playroom. The playroom is an essential component to the program as it is designed to be distraction free, helping him to not become over stimulated by the outside world. It is also an environment where he has control, decreasing his need to use problem behavior to get attention or escape a difficult or uncomfortable situation. All of the toys and materials in the playroom have been specifically chosen for their interactive potential and there are no distracting or electronic toys that compete with human interaction. The facilitator has the job to make the playroom the most exciting place to be where all of Liam’s interests can be played out through imagination and creativity. We use the 3E’s (excitement, enthusiasm, and energy) to captivate Liam and show him the wonderful world of socializing, interacting, and learning. It is Liam’s desire to learn, the use of his thinking skills, and his internal motivation that create long lasting, functional, and meaningful learning. Naturally, we were hesitant to put our 7 year old child who loves trips to the park, going swimming, and, of course, riding those escalators, in a playroom. Surprisingly, Liam LOVES his playroom and never wants to leave. Whenever we are not in the playroom Liam says “let’s go to the playroom!” as he takes our hand and leads us to this special place. We believe that the playroom environment has been one of the most beneficial aspects of this program as it decreases Liam's frustration due to being overwhelmed by the sensory rich environment in which we live. We seek to teach him foundational skills that will allow him to, over time, negotiate the world but on his terms, when he is ready.
Liam’s Son-Rise program currently runs 45 hours per week. We have a different facilitator working with him every two hours which helps keep the energy up and allows Liam to learn these vital interaction skills with a variety of people. We have a two-way mirror in the door to Liam’s playroom, through which we can observe one another and give feedback to each team member. As Liam has some advanced skills in the areas of interaction and flexibility, he also enjoys a couple of classes in the community per week, which allows him some time to be part of a group and interact with other children and teachers. He has been taking gymnastics for nearly one year now, which is the highlight of his week! He loves his gymnastics class and really enjoys watching the other children practice their skills and is motivated to challenge himself to do the same. The physical growth that we have seen in him through gymnastics is astounding! He is also taking swimming lessons at the local pool. At times, Liam’s sister is incorporated into his sessions to strengthen their sibling relationship and build his skills with other children. They both enjoy this special time together. We are looking at possibly adding time with peers to his sessions in the near future!
We utilize the Son-Rise Developmental Model to create goals and track progress. This model encompasses goals in four critical areas of social development: Eye contact, communication, interactive attention span, and flexibility. As children advance through the model, more time is spent outside of the playroom and children transition to more traditional educational settings. When Liam has developed a greater ability for and interest in adult directed learning and higher education, he will have a much better chance of thriving in school. For now, we strive to not place limitations on Liam’s capabilities, while also keeping our expectations in line with his motivation and ability, so that he always feels loved, valuable and competent.
