Magazine Articles

 

         

The folowing articles are in PDF, please click to read.

Spectrum magazine (06/2006)	Exceptional Parent magazine (04/2006)	Woman's World magazine (01/2006)

 

(Sharon Ruben is the recipient of the Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award from EP)

 

Radio and TV Shows

 

• Can Music Heal with Dr. Veronica on Wellness for the Real World - blogtalkradio 2/8/11.
  Can music heal - Click to listen
• Everyday Autism Miracles with Shannon Penrod (Surviving and Thriving with Children on the Spectrum) Toginet live 9/19/11
  Everyday Autism Miracles - Click to listen

 

Flash is required to use the jukebox. please use the links above to listen to the radio shows.

 

 

The “Donna Seebo Show” KKNW 1150 AM (11/2005)

 

 

Autism One radio (06/2005)

 

 

 

TV Interviews on YouTube  (Videos on the home page)

• “Soap Talk” (SoapNet) with Lisa Rinna & Ty Treadway (04/2006)

• “Today Show” (NBC) with Katie Couric (05/2003)

• "Recovery from Autism is Possible" Lollipop Listening Therapy is also discussed which was created years later by Sharon Ruben to advance the treatment for autism and developmental delays.

 

• Read Awakening Ashley book excerpt on Amazon

 

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Puchase Awakening Ashley Book

 

Awakening Ashley Book	$28 (signed by Ashley and Sharon) delivery in USA only
Awakening Ashley Book	$38 (signed by Ashley and Sharon) International delivery

 

Book Reviews

ForeWord Clarion Review

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

Awakening Ashley: Mozart Knocks Autism on Its Ear
Sharon Ruben
iUniverse, Inc.
978-0-5953-0780-7
FIVE STARS! (out of Five)

 "I can remember the frustration of not being able to talk. I knew what I wanted to say, but I could not get the words out, so I would just scream."-Temple Grandin
Dr. Temple Grandin, a PHD in animal science and named in TIME Magazine’s 2010 list of the100 most influential people in the world was diagnosed as being autistic as a toddler. Experts at the time of her diagnoses suggested that she be institutionalized. Her mother refused their advice and pursued other avenues of education, including creating her own school. Grandin is a world famous spokesperson for people with autism and a role model to legions of people with and without developmental disabilities. Sharon Ruben, author and mother of an autistic daughter named Ashley, attended a Grandin conference in 2002 to seek answers about her daughter’s disability. She writes, “Having been told by specialists that one day Ashley may be a “Temple Grandin” fueled me to learn all I could about what Ashley could become through this famous person—Ashley already had visual gifts….I read she [Grandin] thinks in terms of pictures, a video recorder constantly playing in her mind. She struggled with socializing and reading people’s emotions and lacked understanding of human relationships.” 

Like any parent who receives such detrimental news about the health and welfare of their child, the author had to go through a kind of grief process that included stages of denial and anger. Luckily, an “acceptance” that Ashley’s disability was irreversible was not part of that process. Instead, she approached autism as a problem with a solution. She researched online and read hundreds of books on neurology, autism and other developmental disabilities. She had consultations with a variety of doctors and specialists and sought out alternate forms of treatments, like testing Ashley for food allergies and exploring a gluten and casein free diet. More importantly, she found the Tomatis Method, a treatment that retrains the ear muscles to listen better and increase the brain’s comprehension of its surroundings by exposing the patient to high frequency music such as Mozart. After the first “loop” of Tomatis, Ashley began showing signs of vast improvement and miraculous results. Ruben writes, “…Ashley had more energy…she now sang songs instead of merely humming them. Her social play was blossoming…she had more awareness of her surroundings…she was interacting with all of us so much more and was really awakening and coming alive!”

Awakening Ashley is a life-changing book not only for parents with children with disabilities but also an inspiration for all parents. The author’s writing is easily accessible and informative. She gives the reader the full account of her ordeal. Not holding anything back, she isn't afraid to show the reader her own faults, vulnerabilities and fears which all parents experience but are afraid to admit. Within this gem of hope, Ruben includes an appendix of the books, specialists, and websites which assisted her during a very humane journey of heartache, perseverance, celebration, and triumph of awakening her daughter to a fulfilling life.

Lee Gooden 

FIVE STARS! The review of Awakening Ashley book tells it all!
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Into the Light, July 6, 2007
By BeatleBangs1964
This review is from: Awakening Ashley: Mozart Knocks Autism On its Ear (Paperback)
Ashley Ruben, the second of 3 daughters was born in 1999. Ashley displayed autistic behaviors from early infancy. She was placid; had low muscle tone; liked only crunchy foods and had difficulty sucking. She had poor oral coordination and literally had trouble understanding what she was hearing. She also suffered from several ear infections as an infant.

Ashley was diagnosed with autism shortly before she turned two. After some disastrous efforts at doing lab work to screen out the possibility of Fragile X Syndrome, Ashley was placed on a rigorous intervention program. Many of the therapies Ashley underwent included a casein/gluten free regimen, which "repaired" her leaky gut; one on one training and Auditory Integration Therapy (AIT) - Tomatis method.

The Tomatis AIT is much more rigorous and takes more time than the AIT program developed by Dr. Berard, who successfully treated Georgiana Thomas in 1976. (Georgiana Thomas' mother, Annabelle Stehli writes of Georgiana's recovery from autism using AIT - Berard and on her web site describes both the Berard and Tomatis methods).

In Ashley's case, the Tomatis approach was to strap earphones to her head and have her "retrain" her inner ears so she could, according to the theory learn to listen and make auditory distinctions. Mozart was played to her because the high frequencies in Mozart's music was "tonally closest to the human voice" and the high frequencies are the sounds people hear in utero, when the brain and audition are developing.

The method is described in detail in this book and readers will soar along on falcon's wings at Ashley's spectacular progress. This is one of the best books I have EVER read. The Tomatis method was plainly a success; Ashley is currently enrolled in classes for the gifted and is a proficient guitarist. Let's hope she plays Beatle songs.

Sharon Ruben, herself a scientist has done scientific research on the Tomatis method and has shared brilliant insights with readers in this remarkable book. She has appeared on SoapNet in 2004 with Ashley; on the Today Show on 5/3/03 and Ashley's story was first introduced to readers at large in the April 2006 "Exceptional Parent Magazine" and the June 2006 issue of "Spectrum Magazine." She has also started a web site with therapeutic teaching tools for children on the spectrum.

The biggest reward of all was seeing and hearing Ashley on these shows. A bright, beautiful and engaging child, Ashley has proven that autism really can be knocked out on its ear! The victory makes me think of Ray Charles' 1961 smash, "Hit the Road, Jack" and in the case of autism "and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more, hit the road, Jack and don't you come back no more!" It also makes me think of George Harrison's 1969 stellar gem, "Here Comes the Sun," the lyrics of which I think are very a propos.
link to above article on Amazon.com

FIVE STARS! Great book with a lot of helpful info, March 18, 2009
This is a very moving book about a mother who will not take no for an answer and searches on her own to find the answers she needs. She fights for her child to make her life better. There is a vast amount of information for other families who have a child who is autistic or special needs. Thank you so much for writing this book. Reviewer: Susan Thomas

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Sharon Ruben's Bio

My education has been in the sciences. With a Bachelors degree in Biology and a Masters in Biotechnology Management, I have over 16 years of experience in the field of clinical research for the government and the private pharmaceutical industry bringing new drugs and devices to the public for an enhanced quality of life. Though this may have been the fuel for me to research every aspect of Ashley's disorder and find a myriad of therapies to treat her, it doesn't take this type of degree to help your child.  If you have love, and we all do for our children, it's all you need to get started.

Having triumphed over my daughter’s autism, I could have made the decision to pack up and leave the world of autism years ago - Ashley is now recovered and soaring to new heights. But I didn’t leave and revel in her recovery. I’ve taken on even more work now. I founded Sound Therapy Systems, LLC, my company devoted to re-training the ears and brain of children on the autism spectrum to listen better, now using Lollipop Listening Therapy®, my own auditory training program that I personally developed to advance the treatment for autism. I am all about awakening these children...just like Ashley awakened.

I’ll never be able to pay Mozart back for recovering my daughter from autism. But I’m paying it forward and putting a new stigma on autism – that of hope and recovery. I bring a “mother’s perspective” to my business and am sought out from all around the world by parents seeking help for their children on the autism spectrum. Ashley and I have been on the Today Show (NBC) with Katie Couric, Soap Talk with Lisa Rinna and Ty Treadway, in national magazines, newspapers and on radio.