How do I "do" RDI?
Two of the questions that I run across from time to time is
how do I do RDI …and then because a quick answer usually creates more questions…the
next is usually Why is RDI vague?
So I am going to try and make RDI less vague …These are my
reflections, based on implementing RDI with my own 2 boys over 7 years ago and
my work as a consultant for the past 4 years.
RDI is….
Relationship development intervention is based on the latest
research in developmental Psychology, transferring these cutting edge advances
to effectively apply them to help our children on the Autism Spectrum. Through empowering parents, RDI consultants equip families to deliver a
state of the art program to help restore the developmental trajectory of their
child on the spectrum. In this step by
step process, they are never alone in teaching their child how to experience
the world in a better way, in the safety and security of the parents being
their trusted guide. They learn how their child’s mind works and are able to create
safe challenge in day to day activities. Their child becomes resilient and
competent, able to make decisions, have friends, be a team player, have a job
and all the quality of life indicators that we as parents want for all our
children.
What does this mean in application?
When I discovered RDI for my family, it was based on child
developmental milestones …and they were all nicely laid out to work on with my
kiddoes. I would incorporate specific
actions into my interactions based on what objective I was on. My consultant, would then monitor if that
milestone was remediated and we could move on, or if there still needed to be
more practice/direction, etc. Here is an example-
Adapting to degrees of change- my son would adapt his behavior successful to remain coordinated- I would carefully introduce gradual degrees of change into my activity …harder/softer, faster/slower/ higher/lower. I would then spend time fostering this milestone in the many interactions I had with my sons in a day.
Adapting to degrees of change- my son would adapt his behavior successful to remain coordinated- I would carefully introduce gradual degrees of change into my activity …harder/softer, faster/slower/ higher/lower. I would then spend time fostering this milestone in the many interactions I had with my sons in a day.
As simple as the objective may sound, my son was very resistant
to anything that he could not control.
If I wanted to introduce variation to something we were doing, it would
become a power struggle of control. SO
within this objective, other objectives were also addressed ( boundaries,
variations. Flexibility, etc depending on your child)
When that was mastered
we moved on…with excitement to all the new milestones my sons were finally
getting. These milestones were not
simply static skills, but rather the
building blocks to understanding how to completely engage, collaborate and
share perspective!
As the years moved along in the actual RDI program, the
founders Dr Gutstein and Dr Sheely,
watched the program unfold and listened to the families that were stuck
in some aspects of the student objectives.
This is when updates occurred.
The basis of a *do over* has always stayed the same, yet as they gained
more knowledge on what was successful and where families were stalling, it was
incorporated into the program. This was
the birth of parent objectives…the feedback from parents who were successful
along with the parents who were struggling.
While RDI focuses on Child development, it became clear that parents and
caregivers needed some important information and strategies to create an
optimal learning environment to help the developmental process unfold more
precisely. For me this is what makes
RDI pretty unique. A specific curriculum to streamline progress that
continues into the milestones of adulthood.
Other programs, for example can teach a child to
behave and act a certain way, but that never addresses the underlying social
understanding that is needed to truly generalize. Other developmental programs may be helpful in
relationship building, helping
parents to accept their child and help them to build a starter connection. These are
positive helps to our kids. However they often fall short in the long term. I often hear "My child has stalled in progress, can you help?" This is especially true as our kids get older and the gap of milestones become wider!! So lets take it a step further. In typical development engagement starts to
occur even before 3 months of age…so imagine if you have a child with Autism who
is 3, or 6 or 12 or 20..etc…there is
multitudes of developmental milestones that need to be revisited because they
missed them the first time. Once
engagement has begun to emerge ( Either through your RDI program, or possibly ESDM, a Floortime program or the Son-rise
Program) and the child is seeking shared experiences. addressing each stage of
inter subjectivity is crucial to continue to move forward,
gaining an estimate of 2 years in milestones for every year. This is why many
families more to RDI after other programs if they have not started with RDI and
this is why RDI is unique in its approach.
http://autismremediationforourchildren.blogspot.com/2010/02/intersubjectivity-within-asd.html
For my one son, who is now 16, he started in RDI at 8, , at a 1 year old level in social understanding. Each year he gained 2 or more years and at the age of 12 he was tested and it showed he was at a 9-10 year old level. This was fascinating to the school Psychologist. Obviously at 16 he has now caught up to his peers, was in football this year and is now bowling…has friends, and is a team player. More importantly, the higher milestones of effective decision making based on past experiences have proved very useful in his teenage years! Haha
http://autismremediationforourchildren.blogspot.com/2010/02/intersubjectivity-within-asd.html
For my one son, who is now 16, he started in RDI at 8, , at a 1 year old level in social understanding. Each year he gained 2 or more years and at the age of 12 he was tested and it showed he was at a 9-10 year old level. This was fascinating to the school Psychologist. Obviously at 16 he has now caught up to his peers, was in football this year and is now bowling…has friends, and is a team player. More importantly, the higher milestones of effective decision making based on past experiences have proved very useful in his teenage years! Haha
So ok that was a long example on what makes RDI Unique.
Back to the HOW of RDI …
To help this remediation process for our children to run even
smoother, a simultaneous program was incorporated that was devoted to the
entire family. This is to encourage, especially
the parents, that they were the BEST people to help their child, and to empower
them with tools so that they can see those positive changes in their
child. The biggest Aha moment for
parents with the RDI program is that they are NOT alone…that this model does
not give them a book and says, now go do it…but more of an unfolding of what is
powerful and unique about each family, and what specifically their childs needs
are, step by step. Lets face it, we all
are different and our children are all different. This is why knowing you are not alone is
incredibly comforting! Support groups are
excellent ( go here for the yahoo support group with over 800 members http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AutismRDI/
)…but when I say you are not alone I mean with a consultant you have someone
who is able to pinpoint where your child needs are…and as those needs change as
progress is made, there is always a feeling of moving forward!
There are many resources that I have included in this blog to
help you *start* to do RDI…but in reality these strategies are the *template*
of the important work to come that will NEED these strategies firm, but in itself
these strategies are just the beginning!
Here is a basic outline of RDI http://whatisrdi.blogspot.com/2012/08/details-on-rdi-program.html
To help see application of these stages and goals …Im going to spend the next
few blog posts going over some specific examples from both the parent goals and
the student goals.
STAY TUNED!!.. Meanwhile listen to my latest radio interview on utube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYsrG14S1uM
Great post, Kathy. I love your comment "there is always a feeling of moving forward!". I can vouch for that 100%. :-)
ReplyDeleteKathy...always love the way you clarify what we do!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post. I will undoubtedly repost :-)