I originally wrote this as a post to my Son-Rise Start-Up Group and later to my FaceBook family. I belive I wrote it on March 27, 2011:
This week, we took a giant leap forward in our family’s journey with our son’s beautiful autism. On Monday morning we had a meeting with Ka’eo, Jr’s Autism Skills Trainers where we let them know we appreciate all the love and support they’ve given us over the past 8 months we’ve been in Hawaii, and we are now ready to move forward on... our own and no longer desire their services.
There were some tears on both sides of the conversation but after it was all said and done, we feel relieved, empowered, and inspired to move forward with full force towards a full-time Son-Rise Program for Ka’eo, Jr.
Our therapists were “trying” to embrace our new found beliefs and direction with Ka’eo, Jr. Although, the underlying truth was our loving therapists really believed THEY are the experts, WE are the parents, and while they would do their best to respect our desires, THEY knew what was truly best for our son, not US.
To quote the manager directly, “We know you love your son and want the best for him, but honestly, sometimes mothers do SABOTAGE their own child’s program.” Perhaps it was better said by the supervisor in charge of our Skills Trainer, “I know he is YOUR son, but we’ve been doing this for a really long time and ultimately WE know what works best for these kids. If you’re not happy with what we are doing here, you always have the right to REFUSE SERVICES.”
What brought about Monday’s meeting was the concern our Skills Trainer brought to her supervisor --> my wife was being “unkind” and “disrespectful” to her because after every session, Jackie kept giving her feedback and wanting to dialogue about Ka’eo Jr’s response to the session. :o)
Now, when I say “loving therapists”, I do truly mean it! I’m not being sarcastic! I absolutely believe they care about Ka’eo, Jr., and there is no doubt in my mind they genuinely believe --> THEY know what is BEST for him and WE are loving but simply NAIVE parents…
I believe they are confident in their training, and also don’t understand that Son-Rise teaches us constant, loving feedback and dialogue is the key to growing and improving in our focus and effectiveness with Ka’eo, Jr. in his playroom. Many Son-Rise methods are contrary to the techniques they’ve learned and I understand they may not feel comfortable using strategies that make so much sense and are so in-line with what our son is interested in. It’s okay.
The bottom line is -- we are now free to build our program from the ground up. We are happier than ever to do so. Jackie leaves for Son-Rise Maximum Impact training on Saturday. I’m posting 100 flyers for volunteers. We are going to hit the ground running in 2 weeks.
By the way, this week, Ka’eo had the most amazing progress in his playroom TO DATE!
This week, we took a giant leap forward in our family’s journey with our son’s beautiful autism. On Monday morning we had a meeting with Ka’eo, Jr’s Autism Skills Trainers where we let them know we appreciate all the love and support they’ve given us over the past 8 months we’ve been in Hawaii, and we are now ready to move forward on... our own and no longer desire their services.
There were some tears on both sides of the conversation but after it was all said and done, we feel relieved, empowered, and inspired to move forward with full force towards a full-time Son-Rise Program for Ka’eo, Jr.
Our therapists were “trying” to embrace our new found beliefs and direction with Ka’eo, Jr. Although, the underlying truth was our loving therapists really believed THEY are the experts, WE are the parents, and while they would do their best to respect our desires, THEY knew what was truly best for our son, not US.
To quote the manager directly, “We know you love your son and want the best for him, but honestly, sometimes mothers do SABOTAGE their own child’s program.” Perhaps it was better said by the supervisor in charge of our Skills Trainer, “I know he is YOUR son, but we’ve been doing this for a really long time and ultimately WE know what works best for these kids. If you’re not happy with what we are doing here, you always have the right to REFUSE SERVICES.”
What brought about Monday’s meeting was the concern our Skills Trainer brought to her supervisor --> my wife was being “unkind” and “disrespectful” to her because after every session, Jackie kept giving her feedback and wanting to dialogue about Ka’eo Jr’s response to the session. :o)
Now, when I say “loving therapists”, I do truly mean it! I’m not being sarcastic! I absolutely believe they care about Ka’eo, Jr., and there is no doubt in my mind they genuinely believe --> THEY know what is BEST for him and WE are loving but simply NAIVE parents…
I believe they are confident in their training, and also don’t understand that Son-Rise teaches us constant, loving feedback and dialogue is the key to growing and improving in our focus and effectiveness with Ka’eo, Jr. in his playroom. Many Son-Rise methods are contrary to the techniques they’ve learned and I understand they may not feel comfortable using strategies that make so much sense and are so in-line with what our son is interested in. It’s okay.
The bottom line is -- we are now free to build our program from the ground up. We are happier than ever to do so. Jackie leaves for Son-Rise Maximum Impact training on Saturday. I’m posting 100 flyers for volunteers. We are going to hit the ground running in 2 weeks.
By the way, this week, Ka’eo had the most amazing progress in his playroom TO DATE!
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