Barry (Bears) Neil Kaufman has spent his last thirty-five
years teaching people from all over the world how to
improve the quality of their lives through teaching
The Option Process®.
Best Selling Author & Co-Founder of International
Learning & Training Center
In addition to being the best-selling author of 12
books, in 1983, with his wife Samahria Lyte Kaufman,
he established the Option Institute International Learning
and Training Center which has served as a beacon of
hope and possibility for thousands of people. Participants
come from the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Japan, Australia, Russia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka,
Israel, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Kenya, Chile, as well
as 65 other countries.
With a full-time staff of over 80 dedicated professionals
and a 100-acre campus, the Institute offers year-round
programs that have helped thousands of adults and more
than 20,000 families of children with special needs.
People come from all backgrounds, ages, and professions
to improve the quality of their relationships, careers,
health, and parenting skills; some to empower themselves
to be more self-trusting and daring in their life pursuits;
and others to overcome professional burnout, the loss
of a loved one, depression, chronic fatigue or various
perplexing challenges.
Co-Originator of Ground-Breaking Autism Treatment
Program
Barry Neil Kaufman, with his wife Samahria Lyte Kaufman,
is also the co-originator of The Son-Rise Program®,
created when his son Raun, was diagnosed as severely
and incurably autistic. The Kaufmans' groundbreaking
program transformed Raun from a mute, withdrawn child
with a measured I.Q. of less than 30, into a highly
verbal, socially interactive boy with a near-genius
I.Q. Bearing no traces of his former condition, Raun
later graduated Cum Laude Society/High Honors from high
school and earned a degree in Biomedical Ethics from
an Ivy League university. He then went on to become
the director of an educational center for school-aged
children. Now the CEO of the Option Institute, he teaches
on campus in addition to lecturing at universities,
conferences and symposia worldwide.
Media & Teachings
The story of the Kaufman family's incredible journey
with their son, Raun, was documented in the award-winning
book Son-Rise:
The Miracle Continues and NBC-TV movie entitled
Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love. His work
has been highlighted in national and international media
including Good Morning America, Donahue, The BBC Television
network, The New York Times and People Magazine. In
addition to his frequent mass media appearances, Kaufman
has lectured at conferences, universities, and hospitals.
Bears and his wife Samahria have shared their teachings
with those from the remotest region of Appalachia to
the Andes Mountains of South America; from the cities
and rural districts throughout Europe to Asia, the Middle
East, Canada, and the United States.
Nationally & Internationally Acclaimed Books
Barry Neil Kaufman is a best-selling author. Over 200
universities have placed his books on reading lists
for courses in departments such as Philosophy, Psychology,
Education, Religion, Special Education, and Nursing.
 Happiness
Is A Choice is one of Kaufman's most inspiring works
to date. It offers a blueprint of simple, yet concrete
methods to empower the decision to be happy.
Son-Rise:
The Miracle Continues takes the reader through the
moving transformation of Raun Kaufman's road to recovery,
as well as sharing the heart-warming stories of five
other families who dared to use The Son-Rise Program®
to heal their own "unreachable" children.
Power
Dialogues serves as a teaching manual for those
who come to the Institute for professional training
and certification.
To
Love Is To Be Happy With, Giant
Steps, A
Miracle To Believe In, No
Regrets, A
Sacred Dying, Out-Smarting
Your Karma and FutureSight
have all served as inspiration for a world searching
for more humane and loving answers to very personal
challenges and dilemmas.
Reaches Out to Children Throughout the World
In addition to their three biological children, the
Kaufmans adopted three other children from desperate
situations. The first was a seriously malnourished little
Columbian boy who had been kept alive by intravenous
feeding through an artery in his neck. The Kaufmans
worked with their adopted son to bring him back to health
and today he is a bright, successful university graduate
focusing on a career in information technology. They
next adopted a little boy from Bogotá whose mother
had died and whose father had attempted to kill him
by slitting his throat. This child, who needed very
special care and love, has also been transformed in
the Kaufman home. When they expanded their family a
third time, the Kaufmans adopted a young orphaned girl
from the streets of strife-torn El Salvador. In addition
to his six children, Kaufman now has three grandchildren.
Barry Neil Kaufman wears many hats. While directing
and teaching at the Institute, he also works with individuals,
families, groups, businesses, and corporations, as well
as presenting motivational talks internationally. |
