William makes astounding progress in his Son-Rise Program
William started playing in his Son-Rise playroom in December 2008. At the time, his eye contact was fleeting. If he looked at you it was only for 1-2 seconds. But, there was a haze over his eyes and it was clear that he was not fully in our world. He also spent 95% of his day being exclusive, doing activities like watching videos or playing with an object by himself. His attention span was less than 1 minute and he had stopped saying any words that he once spoke. He was very happy and gentle. After 2 weeks playing in his Son-Rise Program, William’s’ eye contact increased to 3 seconds, he looked with more intent, though still had mostly hazy eyes. Still very exclusive, he had more of an awareness and showed us he wanted to be with us. Today, January 2014 and five years later, William is a different boy. His eye contact is better than anyone we know. He looks at you with clear eyes and with a focused, happy affect. And he uses his looks to initiate games or to get what he wants. He often looks at you for up to 15 seconds or more. 90% of the time he is completely present and so "here", in our world. He plays with us 70% of the day, and is exclusive when he needs a break. His attention span for our games is an average of 10 minutes, and sometimes he plays with us for 45 minutes straight! And, he is babbling and talking a lot. Sometimes, he uses 2-3 word phrases. He has a great sense of humor and laughs when we are silly or catch him trying to get away with something. He is even more gentle and loving and often says “I love you.”
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For ongoing and specific updates, check out the "Updates" tab.
Halloween 2013
William choose to be the M&M for Halloween this year. He tried on the M&M costume, but decided to be a pirate instead with a pirate hat. This is the first year WIlliam was allowed to eat regular candy, but was only allowed to have a few pieces. William went trick or treating with Roni. Roni and WIlliam stayed out for about thirty minutes. Roni modeled how to ring the door bell and after two or three times ringing the door bell, William soon did it by himself! He was very excited and said halloween very clearly more than once. He also said bye bye to a few neighbors after they gave him the candy clearly by himself. He had a lot of fun and tired to even eat some of the candy behind Roni's back! He was so excited about being able to eat candy. After trick or treating, William helped mom give out some of the candy to the other trick or treaters who came by the house with a great smile.
Halloween 2012
William chose to be Wolverine from the X-Men for Halloween. Roni and Maria went trick-or-treating with him. They had a lot of fun and stayed out for 30 minutes. Maria modeled ringing the doorbell and William rang all subsequent doorbells. They also watched other trick-or-treaters and enjoyed looking at their costumes.
October 2012
William has been pumpkin picking for many years. This year, we took him to a farm where we got to visit the turkeys the farmer raises, saw their farm machinery, saw crops they harvested and went to their field to pick pumpkins. William stayed focused and interested for almost an hour and he helped choose, pick and put the pumpkins in the cart. He also helped pull the cart to the cashier.
Halloween 2011
William chose Mario and Luigi for Halloween costumes. His "big brother" Artur went trick-or-treating with him. They had fun and only paused a moment to see friend and team-mate Jane dressed as a cone head.
Summer 2011
William loves the beach. He has always liked to swim. Now, he is playing in the sand with us and has started showing us what toys he wants to take to the beach. He also watches other children play and is trying to imitate them. He looks at us a lot, especially when he wants to go to the ocean.