OVERVIEW

The Heart of Peace© project is a summer institute offering an innovative program for children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and their parents. It provides a professional grade, therapeutic program, offering non-invasive treatment modalities to increase quality of life for young people and their families.

The Heart of Peace© is an educational institute project of Congressional District programs, a 501(c)3 publicly registered charity and branch of the National Heritage Family.

We are a group of professional therapists who work, on a daily basis, with children with ASD and related disorders. All the techniques we employ have been effective in releasing the grip of autism and spectrum disorders.

These techniques are safe, gentle and work to fortify a sense of safety, create inner strength and resiliency and relax the central nervous system to allow learning to take place. They support the inner being of a person in a wholesome and caring way so that these people can step forward into life with grace and certainty.

We have come together to pool our collective expertise in a collaborative effort to introduce these healing therapies to families dealing with a diagnosis of ASD. We offer education and respite for the parents and bring a deep sense of peace and compassion to the healing process so everyone feels supported and nurtured in the process.

We are devoted to the treatment of young people with autism offering highly effective therapies to gently release the patterns of ASD. We believe these are effective and accelerate internal growth and development at foundational levels. We have seen and experienced change in young people with ASD and related disorders using these methods.

PROGRAM

The Heart of Peace Institute© will offer a five day program to families of young people with autism between the ages of 3 and 20+. It will introduce and teach 5 distinct modalities to maximize each person's physical, spiritual and emotional development. These modalities and treatments will be presented by qualified, experienced therapists and consultants working across the United States in a variety of settings.

The first Institute, projected to open summer 2009, will be held in Tucson, AZ, and housed in a school setting. Families will stay in a nearby hotel and be transported daily to the program site. Educational classes and therapies will be scheduled throughout the day with play and rest sessions interspersed.

Parents will be provided with books and handouts relating to the treatments and modalities. Participants will be served three meals a day on site. The menu will follow the nutritional guidelines presented during the week. The project staff will provide families with follow up support during the next year.

RATIONALE

Autism affects one in every 150 children worldwide. In certain states in the US, one in every 80 children has a diagnosis of autism. This epidemic of autism is being linked to many environmental factors that suggest a need for new knowledge which includes a holistic approach to medicine, specific nutritional guidance, sensory integration and neurodevelopment training.

We wish to bring healing to young people with ASD and to offer education and respite to their parents. We believe that the wholeness we seek to facilitate in young people with ASD lies latent within that person. Underlying this approach is the premise that people with ASD contain the seeds of their own development within themselves. Recent scientific research identifies five key codes in the DNA of young people with ASD that are ready to be switched on. It simply needs permission and guidance.

ASD is defined as a developmental delay and therefore, given the right conditions for development, we expect to see positive changes occurring. Given optimal diet, homeopathic treatment, neurodevelopmental therapy, gentle bodywork, and sensory integration with creative expression, young people with ASD will improve in function, sometimes dramatically.

This program offers viable solutions through a multi-disciplinary, innovative approach to healing. It offers several therapies that, when used individually offer success and when used collaboratively, provide a synergistic protocol to achieve happiness and healthy development for young people with ASD and related challenges.