Back in 1979, before I had any children of my own, I watched the new made-for-television movie, Son-Rise: a miracle of love. It is the story of Raun Kaufman, son of Barry & Samahria Kaufman. At a young age, Raun, was diagnosed as severely and incurably autistic. I was inspired by the dedication of Raun’s parents. They invested themselves fully in researching and treating their son’s autism. I remember thinking that someday I’d like to be as good of a parent as they were. I’ve heard it said, “Be careful what you wish for.”

Well, in 1990 I had my third son, Mark. He developed high functioning autism after a vaccination error when he was 8 months old. In two separate incidents, when he was between one and two years old, I remember him sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. His back was to me and I was calling his name trying to get his attention. He was not responding and he was also doing something repetitive with a toy. This spooked me. My only knowledge of autism was from the movie Son-Rise. Raun Kaufman had profound autism and did not speak. I remember thinking to myself about knowing the Mark could hear and that if he wasn’t talking our legs off, I’d swear he was autistic. I also made a mental note that if he ever lost speech, I’d have him to a doctor in a heartbeat.

Mark had many quirks which we explained away. His “shyness” was actually selective-mutism. His finger twisting that he did when nervous or excited was similar to hand flapping. Because he was high functioning, we didn’t even know there was a problem until fourth grade when his teacher started to complain. From this point forward, I took my inspiration from the Kaufmans and did my research at the “University of Google”. I would not accept that there was nothing to help my son other than psychiatric meds. I heard of parents helping and even recovering their children with biomedical intervention. I set out on a course to do exactly that. I am thrilled that after approximately five years of biomedical, Mark did recover.

I actually met Raun Kaufman at Autism One 2008. I spoke with him and told him how I admired his parents and how his story inspired me to help my son. I also asked whether the movie was available.

Last month, at Autism One 2009, I happened to stop by the Autism Treatment Center of America™ booth. I noticed that they had a sign up sheet. I looked to see what it was for. It was for receiving a free DVD copy of the movie Son-Rise.  Today, I received my long awaited copy.

I watched Son-Rise tonight. It was strange to watch it again after so many years and after recovering my own son. Instead of being in awe of the Kaufmans and their dedication to Raun, this time I felt profound gratitude to them for having made the movie and planting the seed that allowed me to recover my son. I was more than a spectator this time. In my own way, I”ve lived their story.

Be careful what you wish for?

I wished to be as dedicated a parent as the Kaufmans…I am!

I wished to recover my son from autism like the Kaufmans…I did!