From the Publisher: “In Watching Sarah Rise, Jenny Briggs shares her experience parenting her daughter Sarah, a feisty girl who has a unique genetic blueprint and is on the autism spectrum. At age four Sarah was non-verbal, her eye contact was decreasing, she was in diapers, and eating was a struggle. Determined to help her daughter thrive, Jenny trained at the Autism Treatment Center of America to run a Son-Rise Program, an approach based on connection, love, and play that is aimed at fostering social connection and language. Calling her program Sarah-Rise, Jenny enlisted the help of a small fleet of volunteers to spend hours of one-on-one time with Sarah. Accompany Jenny as Sarah’s language explodes, her eye contact improves, and she learns to play games, play imaginatively, use the potty, eat healthily, read, and write – a momentous journey that will warm your heart and knock your socks off…”
More info About the Author: Jenny spent her childhood in Philadelphia and has called Pittsburgh her home since 1999. She is a licensed massage therapist and Alexander Technique teacher but has recently retired from those professions to focus more on sharing her book and exploring where that may lead. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and cat.
Author Site Don’t miss out: The book launch party for Watching Sarah Rise: A Journey of Thriving with Autism will be at Penguin Bookshop in Sewickley at 5pm on January 25, 2025!
Event Info “With wit, warmth, and a bit of whimsy, Briggs guides readers through the highs and lows of her family’s journey, building a community of care and creative play around one little girl who ‘takes a village’ along with her as she grows.” —Dr. Elizabeth Fein, author of Living on the Spectrum: Autism and Youth in Community
“A beautiful authentic story of love, acceptance, community, and hope. Loaded with insight, and delight. If you are a parent of a child or adult with special needs, I hope this book finds you. If you are an educator this book will be invaluable to your work.” —Kate C. Wilde, author of Autistic Logistics, The Autism Language Launcher, and Autism Abracadabra.
“Briggs writes movingly and with grace about the emotions parents of children with special needs face before marshaling their strength and actively advocating for their children and their future… [her]journey transforms her daughter’s future, and her candor and insight will resonate with parents facing similar challenges.” —Booklife Review
“Watching Sarah Rise is equally informative as it is inspirational, gracious as it is gutsy. A beautifully written story filled with hope, integrity, and pure emotion, Briggs intimately invites her reader to experience the unique heartbreak and joy that comes with mothering a neurodivergent child.” —Sherry Sidoti, author of A Smoke and a Song: A Memoir
What prompted you to write this book?
Readers of my weekly blog updates often asked me when I would write a book, encouraging me to share our story. I hoped doing so would be helpful to other families, especially those parents who might be crying in the kitchen and feeling hopeless. The Son-Rise Program is not the most widely known approach to connecting with people with autism since Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is what insurance usually covers and what schools usually use. The Son-Rise Program is a different approach, never squashing repetitive behaviors, but using those as the doorway to connection. I wanted to share what we did because it was so life-changing for Sarah and our whole family, and it is something that other families can learn to do too, if they know that the Son-Rise Program exists and that the Autism Treatment Center of America offers training courses.
How long did it take you to write?
It depends on when I start counting. If I say the process started during the 2020 pandemic, then it took 5 years. If I start counting from when I began writing emails to family members about the Sarah-Rise program and how Sarah grew, then it took 12 years.
What did you learn through the process of writing the book?
I learned for the umpteenth time that if something feels big and overwhelming it is important to break it down into small steps. Once I realized that the first step of writing the book was to comb through my years of blog entries and collect the parts I liked the most, then I had my foot on the first rung of the ladder. At each successive step, I tried to focus on the step right in front of me so that I could proceed rather than getting frozen in overwhelm. I also learned that you can simply hire an editor. Somehow, I thought writers had to be discovered by a publisher to score an editor. I didn’t know that there are different types of editors to help with different parts of the process. Finally, I learned that every part of the process takes a lot longer than I ever imagined, especially the part from having a finished document on my computer to having a published book out in the world.
What was difficult about writing a book?
The biggest struggle was how to shape the book and whether it was to be linear through time or thematic, or somehow both. It was also hard to take things out when I really liked the moment or the writing but knew that the whole book would be better if it was shorter. Adding dialogue retrospectively at first felt like an insurmountable challenge because I relied so heavily on my previously written blog posts. If I hadn’t written it out before then how could I possibly remember a moment and what people said? Yet, once I started writing the dialogue, the words came easily because we don’t interact much differently with each other now than we did years ago. We are still the same people with the same intentions and love for each other. So, while our words for a given conversation may be made up, they are still true.
What were your favorite parts to write?
The introduction and first chapter involved the most free-flowing writing since I was setting the stage for what was to come, rather than cobbling together previously written pieces from my weekly updates. Beyond that I enjoyed reliving the hilarious moments that I shared, such as when I spilled raw egg out of some avocados halves I was trying to bake in some fancy way. I said, “Oh poop” in response to the spill, and the girls immediately echoed me. Writing that was fun and I crack up every time I read it. I also loved writing the end of the chapter before the epilogue. It feels so hopeful. While I can’t take credit for writing the pieces from the volunteers at the end, I will take credit for asking the volunteers to share something about their experience. Putting all of that together filled my heart.
Are you having a book launch party?
Yes! The book launch party will be at Penguin Bookshop in Sewickley at 5pm on January 25, 2025. I will sign books and have a conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Fein, author of Living on the Spectrum: Autism and Youth in Community.
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