Rating: 
Summary: love can cure; but love binds also...this is a CULT FAMILY
Review: i was so excited to read this book, primarily because i wanted to see what Raun would write in his intro. well, i wasn't really let down, because i pretty much expected him to write what he wrote, and i'll paraphrase: "my parents and my dad are the greatest, most loving people ever, i love them and will be extremely close to them always, i have ZERO criticisms of them, they are perfect, and now look at me, i am the perfect, happiest, most normal, most functioning, most well-adjusted 20 year old ever. i play sports, have girlfriends, am in a co-ed fraternity, have friends, am intellectual, am in a top-flight college, get great grades...AND I AM UTTERLY BORING, NON-FREE-THINKING, AND AS ATTACHED TO MY PARENTS AS ONE COULD IMAGINE."what strikes me after reading this book (and i suspected it strongly from reading son-rise) is that this family, led by the father Barry, is a self-promoting cult. now granted, the message they offer is a wonderful one, and that's what primarily drew me to the book - as they prove, to me, beyond a reasonable doubt, that pure love and acceptance can cure the most disturbed person, such as their little autistic son, BUT!!! But, that kid strikes me as an emotional neuter as an adult, and i BLAME his parents. i think they have no right to have written about his life so explicitly, essentially making him into a child star, observing his behavior for the general public, talking about his problems and his successes, his first crushes on girls. these are things, i SO STRONGLY THINK, that should be private, to truly allow a boy/man (really any person) to explore him or herself, and to share with the world what he or she wishes about him or herself. i feel those parents trapped their little boy, and make it impossible for him to find any fault in them, and as such...he can never gain his wings and fly away...even if it's only to explore a little bit. this family makes it seem like any form of anger is a crime, a bad thing, and that to choose anything other than happiness shows some error on one's own part. thus, to feel angry and to be anything other than happy would be betraying the cult. you know, my parents may not have been as "loving" as Raun's, but they didn't also publicly flaunt me to the world, and for that i thank them. and i strongly suspect that father flaunted his son in front of the world...as a odd and unconscious message to his own parents...due to his own unresolved issues (anger!!!) with them. i just don't buy the whole message.
Rating: 
Summary: Empowering! A must-read!
Review: In a world where parents of special-needs children are constantly told they don't know what's best for their children and the "experts" favorite answer is to forcefully "modify" a child's behavior to appear normal, this book is a refreshing demonstration of the power of parental love and determination. When told by the recognized experts that their son, Raun, was hopelessly autistic and mentally retarded, uneducable and in need of institutionalization, the Kaufmans chose to look to their child as his own expert. Hours of open-minded observation, experimenting and lovingly joining Raun's actions, gave them a unique understanding of him and the key to reach into his strange world and ultimately inspire him to become a part of theirs. Raun's total recovery from a supposedly incurable disorder is a demonstration that the "experts" don't always know best and that scientific studies often fall short. This is a story about trusting yourself and a special-needs child, or anyone, to know what is best for themselves and using observation, respect and openness to find the best answers to meet any challenge. It's a story of really going for what you want, despite the established beliefs others insist on, and enjoying the process. I wish every parent, teacher, professional or person who has contact with children would read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Empowering! A must-read!
Review: In a world where parents of special-needs children are constantly told they don't know what's best for their children and the "experts" favorite answer is to forcefully "modify" a child's behavior to appear normal, this book is a refreshing demonstration of the power of parental love and determination. When told by the recognized experts that their son, Raun, was hopelessly autistic and mentally retarded, uneducable and in need of institutionalization, the Kaufmans chose to look to their child as his own expert. Hours of open-minded observation, experimenting and lovingly joining Raun's actions, gave them a unique understanding of him and the key to reach into his strange world and ultimately inspire him to become a part of theirs. Raun's total recovery from a supposedly incurable disorder is a demonstration that the "experts" don't always know best and that scientific studies often fall short. This is a story about trusting yourself and a special-needs child, or anyone, to know what is best for themselves and using observation, respect and openness to find the best answers to meet any challenge. It's a story of really going for what you want, despite the established beliefs others insist on, and enjoying the process. I wish every parent, teacher, professional or person who has contact with children would read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Take the criticisms below with a grain of salt...
Review: In dealing with my own son who is on the spectrum, I found that he is making breakthroughs when I accept, join, and immerse him in my love. Then I read this book which reaffirms what I was discovering on my own... Although scientific evidence is important as well...I truly believe that a positive attitude and love can take us quite far in life and more people need to open up to this idea to make the world a better place to live.
Rating:
Summary: This book reaffirmed what I was discovering on my own.
Review: In dealing with my own son who is on the spectrum, I found that he is making breakthroughs when I accept, join, and immerse him in my love. Then I read this book which reaffirms what I was discovering on my own... Although scientific evidence is important as well...I truly believe that a positive attitude and love can take us quite far in life and more people need to open up to this idea to make the world a better place to live.
Rating: 
Summary: I agree with Rivka Maccaby's concerns
Review: Like Rivka Maccaby, I'm concerned about what feel like cult-like qualities of this personal approach to autism. Barry Kaufman is said to be in the business of making money as an autism consultant, but as far as I know he was never trained as a behavioral scientist and has never sought any such training. To my ears, his attitude is that of an anti-scientific True Believer -- ignore inconvenient new data, emphasize personal anecdotes instead of scientific data, and apply a single technique to everything you see. I won't repeat all of Rivka Maccaby's excellent criticisms here. Suffice it to say that to anybody familiar with the complex realities of modern treatment for autism, Kaufman's seemingly monomaniacal, unscientific and dated "vision" gives plenty of cause for alarm. I think the _real_ experts on autism would agree with me that what this beleaguered field needs is fewer gurus with super-hyped personal stories, and more carefully-controlled research on which (cost-effective, practical) treatments actually work.
Rating: 
Summary: The Meshuges Continues
Review: Son-Rise, without the tagline of "the Miracle Continues...." is probably the most famous account of a family's dealing with autism outside the professional world. Ironically, the child, Raun Kaufman, was never properly diagnosed. Barry Kaufman, his father, readily admits to diagnosing Raun himself, after reading a few books in the library, when Raun was just nine months old. Now, a quarter of a century later, nine months is still too young for a conclusive diagnosis. In composing Son-Rise, the Miracle Continues.... Barry "Bears" Kaufman uses the original Son-Rise as a prologue, albeit, as he notes in the intro, after "substantially" rewriting it. Personally, I would have said "disingenuously" rewriting it. First of all, Raun's mother jarringly goes from being Suzi in the original text to suddenly becoming Samahria, with no explanation. And all possibilities that remained open in the first book, which became hopes unfulfilled, just evaporate. And the book, Son-Rise vanished from publication. It is the only one of Kaufman's books out of print. The premise of the original story, that all current treatments for autism (at the time Raun was a toddler, in the late '60) were useless if not downright cruel, and that the family had little to lose by trying to develop a new method, is really quite stunning, insightful, and brave. I work in the disability field, and I meet lots of adults who are the products of the 1960's methods; I think Raun was quite fortunate to have been spared them. Moreover, the linchpin of the Kaufman's methods, Imitation Therapy, has become a recognized method used by therapists and teachers extensively in the last five years. It took Special Education thirty years to catch up to the Kaufmans. However, much else has gone on in the autism field. Dietary treatments, drug therapies, education, and occupational therapies other than Imitation Therapy. While Imitation Therapy is absolutely indispensable for the majority of kids, it is just a small part of their days. Medicine, Neurology, and Psychology have caught up to and gone way beyond the Kaufmans, and as far as I know, the Kaufmans are still living in 1969. Moreover, in this second book, they try to pass off their Love-therapy as a treatment for everything from memory lapses to cancer, and more and more it begins to smell like snake-oil. I understand their rejection of conventional medicine, including conventional psychotherapy, because they were first rejected by convention. But they're fortunate that psychotherapy and behavior consultation is not as strictly controlled as medicine, or they would have been locked up for practicing without a license a long time ago. Their institute is the temple of a personality cult, and this book is a manifesto. It's quite seductive. Kaufman is a master of this style. This is probably another reason for rewriting the first book; he needed to polish it up, and make the text consistent with his silkier style, once his writing improved. In this book, you'll read about a very groovy, New Age family with money, a beautiful house full of art and artifacts, and the leisure to read enough philosophy to become accomplished name- droppers. The parents decide that since they have the luxury of time, they will treat their autistic son with constant presence, in body and soul. This isn't going to be very helpful to most 21st century families looking for help with an autistic child, because most parents today don't have the time and money the Kaufmans had, but they do have the resources of public funding, Medicaid, and established programs, not to mention Public Law 94-142 (the education of all handicapped children) which were not available thirty years ago. Most parents would better benefit from a book that explains how to navigate the social services systems, than a story that makes them feel grossly inadequate. On the other hand, as a portrait of an egotist, who obviously has no idea how he comes across, this book is fascinating to no end. Students of psychology and literature could probably get an undergraduate thesis out of it.
Rating:
Summary: We are all so busy making a living, we forget we must live..
Review: The Kaufmans' writings and teachings have inspired me to look at things in a different light. I work in a psychiatric center where acceptance of our adolescents assists me in gaining their trust, which in turn enables them to help themselves having no expectations. I would recommend all of their books, to anyone and everyone who is missing the point of life and uncondtional love.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book - Life has Unlimited Possibilities!
Review: This book is incredible! It gave me a new life perspecitive on never giving up, love and acceptance, and hope. The book really lets you see inside the Kaufman family, and learn what they went through with their son Raun while they were leading him out of autism. You also get to know how Raun is doing now that he is grown up, plus 5 other stories of families and their special children - inspiring beyond all reason! I loved reading this book - a whole new perspective on life and love, and that autism does not mean that a child's life is over!
Rating:
Summary: Still trying to get the sap off my fingers
Review: This book made me want to hurl. I read it while suffering from severe depression in the hopes it would be uplifting and inspiring. Instead I ended up feeling totally inadequate as a human being in comparison to this superhuman family. The author makes it seem like you can choose happiness like you can choose brands of toothpaste. If only it were that simple! Perhaps I'm a bitter and jaded person who completely missed the point, but I thought this book was idealistic rubbish.
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