Walking with God

Kevin and I recently returned from our advanced training at The Autism Treatment Center of America back in Massachusetts. Due to our tireless fundraising we were able to GO TOGETHER which was AWESOME! Thank you again to all of you who contributed to our cause.

We learned SOOOOO much. Or maybe I should say “re-learned.” Much of it was going deeper into what we already knew. We just took it to a different level. We talked a great deal about “technique” in the playroom with Ross, but we also spent a lot of time exploring our attitudes.

So this brings me to today’s blog. Barry Neil “Bears” Kaufman taught two classes while we were there. His sessions are fairly unusual and quite interesting. You may remember that he’s the man that, along with his incredible wife, Samahria, recovered their son from severe autism over 30 years ago. Since then they’ve been teaching all sorts of classes about autism and discovering your path to happiness. These are the cornerstones to the Son-Rise Program and being in the playroom.

Many of you have probably been wondering, “What the heck are you doing in that playroom, anyway?” I’ve been wanting to write about it for months, but just couldn’t find the words. But Bears said something that struck a chord with me. At the end of one of his sessions he said, “being in the playroom is like walking with God.” And certainly, to me, IT IS.

I’ve written before about joining your child’s exclusive and/or repetitive behaviors and that is the first thing we learned to do in this thing called the Son-Rise Program. It’s amazing that after you do that, your child suddenly will give you what we call “green lights” and this means you have the go-ahead to invite them to interact with you. So you “build” on whatever it is that they’re doing. If they’re pushing a car back and forth — maybe you make some noise. If they’re singing Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, maybe you become the coconut tree. It’s simple, it’s pure, it’s, most of all, FUN, and it really is like walking with God.

And while there are techniques to live by in the playroom, the most important aspect of the program is our ATTITUDE while we’re in there. It is important to be JOYOUS and excited that you are there. It is crucial to be PRESENT throughout the hour or two that you are playing. But, most of all (and I learned this last month), it’s critical that you completely and utterly LOVE Ross — with every fiber of your being.  I love that.

The biggest thing I have learned through all of this, is that “what happens in the playroom, doesn’t stay in the playroom.” This attitude stays with me throughout my day and my life. It seeps into all of my relationships. It has brought me to this very peaceful, happy place and I will genuinely always be grateful for having experienced it. I will always be a work-in-progress, but I’m closer to complete contentment than I’ve ever been. It makes sense to me that, if you have this with whatever it is that you do with your life…you’ll always be walking with God.

And who doesn’t want that?