What is RDI?

“Look at me”….I don’t know about you, but each time I hear that I am transported back to my childhood, when I’m in trouble with my Mom.   I would come home and first thing I knew to do is NOT look at my mom….because well, gaze holds all sorts of emotion!!   Maybe if I did not look at her, she would think I did not see her and I could escape upstairs…yeah, you know how that ends!! To my surprise fast forward to when I became a mom and then for my second and third child,   a mom to two children with Autism…I found myself hearing some people tell me to instruct my child to look at me for any sort of eye contact.   I of course did just that for awhile…because like any mom, I wanted desperately to have my beautiful boys look in my eyes.   I felt as though there were two things standing in the way of me and my boys.   One was that they did not look at me and the other is they did not talk.( I will write on that next week J ) If they would just look at me….and ...

Our guest author this week, Sue Simmons, delineates the difference between dynamic and static intelligence in an everyday meaningful kind of way. Learn how you can apply some simple RDI principles to help foster more dynamic thinking in your family.   www.rdiconnect.com It takes only a glimpse of today's world to realize that we are living in unprecedented times. We flip from answering our cell phones, to sending email to friends, to writing to-do lists at lightning speed. Our minds can barely keep up with the demands of our fast-paced world - this requires us to be able to think in a truly "dynamic" fashion. Consider how incredible our brains are - imagine sitting on a beach, gazing at breathtaking scenery (ahhh). As you gaze at the sparkling water and sink back into your chair, you notice the soft breeze against your arms. Where does your mind go? If you're like most of us, your thoughts wander. As you look around at the people in your midst, y...

A brief introduction to Relationship Development Intervention® Relationship Development Intervention (RDI®) is based upon research in developmental psychology and the developmental psychopathology of autism spectrum disorders. The specific focus of RDI is to create a ‘guided participation’ relationship with caregivers, through which children develop competence in handling gradually more complex environments. The programme involves supporting families and caregivers/school staff in their roles as participant guides, creating daily opportunities for adaptive and thoughtful responding in the face of novel and increasingly unpredictable settings and unexpected change. Through participation in caregiver-guided continually more complex cycles of regulation, challenge and new regulation, the aim is for individuals on the autism spectrum to learn not only to tolerate, but also to enjoy changes and transitions. The RDI Program focuses on developing: ·       ...

RDI is an intervention that addresses dynamic intelligence ( Theory of mind) in our children.   For school age children, being able to take on perspective, understand critical thinking, emotionally regulate with another person, and reflect on their surroundings is crucial.   If our children were not given this opportunity before 5 years old, it is never too late to lay the foundation for Dynamic thinking and improve a child’s quality of life and social understanding. Below is a chart that outlines static and dynamic intelligence.   Static thinking is what you know. For example, formulas, procedures (like following a recipe), memorized information (like multiplication tables), habits and routine.   You will note that much of the static column is what comes easier for our children because of the effects of Autism on their neurology.   The Dynamic column is what so many of our children struggle with.   Dynamic thinking involves flexible thinking, experien...

Tips for RDI   Part one - 3 beginning tips to keep in mind while you are waiting to start a complete RDI program with your child-   I welcome any questions you may have about a particular situation in your family and how to help foster mindfulness!   1         Slow down your actions with your child.   Give him /her time to think about what comes next…and if they don’t know what comes next, your pause will help your child to look at you to to try and understand.   As parents, we sometimes anticipate what our kids need and don’t give them a chance to seek out our interaction for that joint attention.   Or we are told to prompt them in the activity to the point where the child has no point other then following directions. There was nothing better than the first time my own son looked at me for information because I paused in our activity and did not compensate for him.   He had to reference my face for more information. ...

Within RDI,   there is a planning stage for the family after the assessment.   This gives the consultant and family an opportunity to see the obstacles in their own child’s static thinking.   We review these ( This is not an exhaustive list but the main obstacles) and mark all that apply.   After that we decide the three top priorities to begin with in the program! They are as follows-   Respecting limits and boundaries Behavioral self regulation Limited emotional response ( Anhedonia) Emotional regulation problems ( Meltdowns) Frustration tolerance Opposition and defiance Aggressive/Violent?Threatening/Risk taking Anxiety Attachment Attention engagement and/or Maintenance Controlling Drowsy/Low Energy Hyperactive-   in constant motion Obsessive focus Rigid /inflexible Inappropriate, annoying language use Limited or absent motivation Non communicative Passive/ Prompt dependant Poor body tone- rigid or floppy …………….continued to more unique obstacles Kathy D...

Yes, RDI works on developmental milestones for theory of mind.  This is crucial for our children to understand friendships in their life.  Babies begin to learn about friendship as they learn to borrow their caregivers perspective...they learn that they have thoughts and the person they are interacting with also has thoughts that may be the same or different then theirs.  We must fill in these missing functions with our children incrementally so their ability to understand their social world, which includes understanding collaberation, mutual enjoyment, empathy and common trust can emerge. This portion is from an article by Dr Gutstein on Adolescent friendship Friendship levels The six levels of friendship We often use the term friendship without defining what kind of relationship we are talking about.We refer to friendships as if they were all alike – as if the relationship of two 4-year-olds is no different than two 16-year-olds. In reality frien...