Hi, my name is Felicity. I am 10 and a half years old. My mum is writing this for me because I can’t speak, read or write yet. I do have some words now and can say “up” and “mum” but before my Son-Rise Program™ I did not know how to ask for things with even a gesture, let alone a sound. I was unable tell my parents or teachers I was hungry or needed to go to the toilet!
I have been doing my Son-Rise Program™ for 5 years. This means I have a special play room in both my dads home and my mums home. By the way, I am home-schooled as you might have guessed. I love being home-schooled because it is quiet and uncluttered. I know where I am and what I am doing and I feel safe and loved. (I used to go to school but it was a scary place for me. Mum believes I felt very upset as I cried all the time).
I have some amazing friends (mum and dad call them volunteers) that regularly come and play with me in my play room. In there, life is amazing! My friends can create a game, song, activity... anything you can imagine. They are so much fun and they play with me the way I like to be played with. Sometimes I am very quiet and need to do my own thing for a while. The outside world and the people in it can be just so overwhelming. At these times my friends, my mum or dad will just sit with me and do exactly what I am doing alongside me and I find this so relaxing. It helps me to process what is going on around me and I need this time just so I can make sense of things. I love each and every one of my friends and am so excited to see them that I tell mum to go “out” of the playroom so I can play with them instead. My parents think they are very special people with hearts the size of the world.
Things I love to do:
* Throwing - I have a throw area outside where I can just throw and throw. I throw things up on the roof of the house (mum reckons that it looks like a piece of colourful art!) , over the fence (the neighbours are very patient!) and into the yard as far as I can. I am just wanting to be outside all the time now and can cope with the outside noises and distractions where I used to not be able.
* Singing - everyone who plays with me sings with me. I love it and know more tunes than you could think of and I can medley them together.
* Swimming - I am a strong swimmer now and love the feel of the water. Mum drops me off the front of the jetty and I can swim around to the shore.
* I like putting things up in and onto strange places. The trickier, the better. At dads house, we have so many things hanging from our living room light and I think that is absolute magic. Dad is often amazed at just how many things he can stack into a new tricky location that is above our heads.
My Son-Rise Program™ is so special to me so my mum wants to go to America to do some more training and one of our volunteers has also done a training course this year in Melbourne. Next year our family also wants to do another OutReach where an accredited Son-Rise Program™ teacher visits us all the way from the Autism Treatment Center of America™ and works one on one with us and our volunteers for two whole days. This will help make my team gain so many new skills as I am changing all the time and learning new ways to communicate. This year I have even started to use sign language. I can sign toilet and lolly!
Oh, by the way, I am getting better! I am recovering from my Autism, step by step, day by day. I am slowly learning how to speak and my world makes so much more sense these days. If you see me, I am happy, I listen and understand what you say to me and I would want to hug you and play with you in my play areas.
I have been doing my Son-Rise Program™ for 5 years. This means I have a special play room in both my dads home and my mums home. By the way, I am home-schooled as you might have guessed. I love being home-schooled because it is quiet and uncluttered. I know where I am and what I am doing and I feel safe and loved. (I used to go to school but it was a scary place for me. Mum believes I felt very upset as I cried all the time).
I have some amazing friends (mum and dad call them volunteers) that regularly come and play with me in my play room. In there, life is amazing! My friends can create a game, song, activity... anything you can imagine. They are so much fun and they play with me the way I like to be played with. Sometimes I am very quiet and need to do my own thing for a while. The outside world and the people in it can be just so overwhelming. At these times my friends, my mum or dad will just sit with me and do exactly what I am doing alongside me and I find this so relaxing. It helps me to process what is going on around me and I need this time just so I can make sense of things. I love each and every one of my friends and am so excited to see them that I tell mum to go “out” of the playroom so I can play with them instead. My parents think they are very special people with hearts the size of the world.
Things I love to do:
* Throwing - I have a throw area outside where I can just throw and throw. I throw things up on the roof of the house (mum reckons that it looks like a piece of colourful art!) , over the fence (the neighbours are very patient!) and into the yard as far as I can. I am just wanting to be outside all the time now and can cope with the outside noises and distractions where I used to not be able.
* Singing - everyone who plays with me sings with me. I love it and know more tunes than you could think of and I can medley them together.
* Swimming - I am a strong swimmer now and love the feel of the water. Mum drops me off the front of the jetty and I can swim around to the shore.
* I like putting things up in and onto strange places. The trickier, the better. At dads house, we have so many things hanging from our living room light and I think that is absolute magic. Dad is often amazed at just how many things he can stack into a new tricky location that is above our heads.
My Son-Rise Program™ is so special to me so my mum wants to go to America to do some more training and one of our volunteers has also done a training course this year in Melbourne. Next year our family also wants to do another OutReach where an accredited Son-Rise Program™ teacher visits us all the way from the Autism Treatment Center of America™ and works one on one with us and our volunteers for two whole days. This will help make my team gain so many new skills as I am changing all the time and learning new ways to communicate. This year I have even started to use sign language. I can sign toilet and lolly!
Oh, by the way, I am getting better! I am recovering from my Autism, step by step, day by day. I am slowly learning how to speak and my world makes so much more sense these days. If you see me, I am happy, I listen and understand what you say to me and I would want to hug you and play with you in my play areas.