Raun K. Kaufman is an international writer, lecturer, and teacher for The Son-Rise Program® at The Autism Treatment Center of America. In his work with families, children, and professionals from around the world, Raun brings a distinctive qualification to the realm of Autism treatment-his own personal history.
At 18 months, Raun was diagnosed as severely and incurably Autistic. Although advised to institutionalize Raun, his parents, authors/teachers Samahria and Barry Neil Kaufman, instead created an innovative home-based, child-centered program in an effort to reach their son. Their work, which developed into a unique methodology now known as The Son-Rise Program, enabled Raun to recover completely from his Autism, transforming him from a mute, withdrawn child with a tested I.Q. of less than 30 into an outgoing, social boy with a near-genius I.Q. Raun's story was recounted by his father, Barry Neil Kaufman, in the best-selling book Son-Rise: The Miracle Continues and was later the subject of an award-winning NBC television movie Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love.
After graduating from an Ivy League university (Brown University) with a degree in biomedical ethics, Raun continued his professional development as the director of an educational center for school-aged children as well as a presenter and lecturer at conferences and symposia worldwide. Now, Raun works at The Autism Treatment Center of America and is an integral member of The Son-Rise Program that began with him. He has discussed The Son-Rise Program, Autism treatment, and his own perspectives as a person recovered from Autism in numerous radio, television, Internet, and print interviews. He has written about his experiences in the essay "Unchain Your Dreams" excerpted from the book Silver Linings by Shaena Engle. Recently he spoke at the conference, "Celebration of Breakthroughs II", sponsored by the Georgiana Institute and has also lectured at several major universities including New York University, Boston University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Raun is the author of the upcoming article, "From Autism To Recovery," for the British publication Autism File.