Parent training...what it is...what it should be


I have met a few families recently,  and while I was doing an assessment for one of them, we were talking about parent training.  They told me that they had been through parent training…and from what they read about RDI they see that it is also parent training, so they wanted to know what would be the differences
I figured I would write a blog post to those interested in RDI…but not sure the component of Parent training and how that fits into your lifestyle.
Its true,  RDI is huge on parent education…but it’s with a twist.  This twist is what is unique. We are not looking at instructing parents what to do when behavior XY and Z happens.  Now of course we have strategies as compensations for those behaviors…but with RDI’s parent education, we look past the symptom of a behavior. 
The purpose of RDI education/training is not because we feel like you need training on how to be a parent/mom/dad..  You are your child’s biggest advocate and you know your child the best!  How I see it, it is more of an imparting how I think about Autism, to you.  It’s a shift of mindset in the why of the outward behaviors, to what is going on, whether it be lack of child apprenticeship, lack of experience sharing/sharing others perspectives, and using hindsight and foresight together to make sense of the world through experiences.  Just think for a moment what your day to day would be like if you could not reach back into your past experiences to make any decisions, present or future.  It would all be very scary…and anxiety would definitely be a behavior that would be a symptom of this.  No wonder kids with ASD want to keep everything the same!!  That uncertainty is hard to understand when you cannot reach back and remember previous successful times and experiences.
So our Parent Education is more about defining what Autism actually is,  getting to the core obstacles it presents, and not just putting a bandaid on teaching behavior management. This leaves much more space for authentic interactions where you and your child can enjoy the time together!

For more information on RDI, visit
www.autismremediation.com
www.rdiconnect.com

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