Mafe Maria: Personal stories by autism parent mentor, Maria Stultz
The Son-Rise Program taught me how to become the best play therapist for my autistic son, and how to train and direct a team, so together we could surround him with the perfect environment and activities for him to learn fundamental social and learning skills—organically, joyfully, through loving relationships, and at his own pace. Our family lived in a Son-rise bubble—a nurturing greenhouse—for four years, until he was ready to thrive learning directly from the world.
Perfection is not required, is what I’ve lived and say to every mother of an autistic child. Yet, I thought I needed to be perfect to mentor others now. Always supporting my growth, the Wise Voice changed my lenses today. From fear I went to inspiration, just like in key Son-Rise days. So I may not be perfect, but I’m ready to begin. To learn. To teach. To co-create.
Through a metaphor, my son tells me the story of how his autism began and the locked space where he found safety.
A grateful kiss goodbye to Son-Rise and our playroom. A statement of victory inspiring the beginning of a new chapter learning and nurturing our child out in the world.
Moments of love between Joaquin and his friends in the Son-Rise playroom.
Interactive loop games are perfect to pursue subtle related variation. Here I offer several ideas around a turn-taking game for my team of Son-Rise volunteers.
Choosing love and ease in order to connect with Kiki while joining him in one of his repetitive activities.
A celebration of love three years into our Son-Rise program. Watch our amazing Team Joaquin and the miracles and joy they’ve helped us reach for our child.
When mentally “failing” as a Son-Rise parent, remember: Perfection is not required. Rules that separate us in the moment from our kids are not helpful. Self acceptance helps us AND our children grow.
A tweak to our Son-Rise program replacing requests by opportunities for spontaneous action. In these videos, Aaron’s playfulness alone motivates Kiki to imitate him.
Becoming aware and reversing the "mental no" and minimal response I give to Kiki's crazy and repetitive comments to give joy a chance and connect deeply with him.
A fun game designed around Joaquin’s interest for shopping that motivated him to practice non-verbal communication.
I’m currently discovering the natural talents of our new friend Megane… Acting on feedback I gave on her last play session with Joaquin (i.e. offer more actions vs. questions or “I don’t know” responses), for her second session she went with the intention to go 100% for whatever idea comes to her head. And I’m […]
Disconnecting is not of lesser value than being interactive; just one more way of being in the moment, and it has a purpose for autistic individuals and everybody else.
This morning I got in the playroom while in a slight bad mood with Joaquin. I realized I didn’t want to give him control over me; he had nagged me plenty in the morning and I had resisted very uncomfortably. So as soon as I went in, pencil and paper on hand, Joaquin asked me […]
A playroom game that motivated Kiki to stretch his attention span, body coordination, and physical interaction.
Playing with Kiki while holding the intention to use daring actions to build motivation for myself or for variations around repetitive activities or conversations.
A fun moment playing with Melissa, Joaquin’s friend and one of our Son-Rise program volunteers.
In this game, inspired by Kiki’s new motivation to get traffic tickets, my little bollito stretched himself sustaining eye contact.
A game designed to help Kiki have fun interacting with a new friend on her first day in our playroom.
Joaquin is not a big guesser; he usually wants us to give him the answers without delay. So I prepared a fun game to motivate him to practice guessing.
Challenged by Kiki's beloved Game of Lights, resistant to participate in his interest, and talking myself into accepting my feelings and being authentic with Kiki.
This inspiring video documents the last 12 months in Joaquin’s son-rise Program. It’s a celebration of our journey, Joaquin’s growth, and our team of volunteers.
Understanding the force behind my choices—love or fear—allowed me to start breaking “the rules”, and that way get to the true core of our Son-Rise program.
Excited and inspired as I see how the intention to live love, choice, trust, self-awareness, and happiness in our personal life, is taking over Joaquin’s Son-Rise program and infecting my life and that of my team members.
In celebration of our child and us, and the parents and volunteers working every day in son-rise playrooms, watch and feel the miracles seven months into our program.
Reporting from our Son-Rise bubble, here are the highlights shared with friends, family, and fellow Son-Rise families during our 6th month into the program.
A memorable experience of guidance: Turning a challenging moment in Kiki's social development into an inspiring opportunity to climb our mountain with joy and enthusiasm.
Last weekend we enjoyed the company of Katrina Kramlich, a lovely and experienced Son-Rise child facilitator who came to our home to play with Joaquin in his romper room. The experience was absolutely wonderful, especially because the universe conspired to fit everything in such a perfect way, that Eliza (our first volunteer), had a chance […]
From the trenches of our Son-Rise bubble, here are the highlights shared with friends, family, and our son-Rise community during our 5th month in the program.
In preparation for my coming trip back to Massachusetts to attend an advanced Son-Rise course, last week I had to fill out a long survey reporting all kinds of details about Joaquin’s current state. The survey was exactly the same I took back in May, just a few weeks after having become aware of Joaquin’s […]
From the trenches of our Son-Rise bubble, here are the highlights shared with friends and family during August 2010, our 4th month into the program.
Videos illustrating several Son-Rise techniques during a game we played to develop Joaquin’s verbal communication from single words to 2 to 3-word sentences.
From the trenches of our Son-Rise bubble, here are the highlights shared with friends , family, and our Son-Rise community during July 2010, our 3rd month into the program.
We built the son-rise playroom and Kiki’s progress slowed down; I got discouraged, depressed. Prompt support help me discard limiting beliefs and get back on track inspired and driven.
I’ve just received my rental car for the week. After placing my bag in the trunk and contemplating all the little ways how this cheap rental is not as nice as our family car, I pull out the map package I’ve printed earlier charting the route to the Option Institute. The number of steps is […]
From the trenches of our Son-Rise bubble, here are the highlights shared with friends and family during June 2010, our 2nd month into the program.
Lately, Joaquin is the bright center of my universe. A developmental summary of 2.5-year-old Joaquin, six weeks after starting the son-rise program.
Explaining the Son-Rise program, the therapy we’ve followed since diagnosing our son’s autism. A single month into it has shown miraculous shifts and a promising journey.
One month after discovering my son’s autism and the son-rise program, I’m starting to see the wonder of the process unfolding and how it’s meant to “cure” ME.