Hi all-
As Ive posted before, Ryan is currently getting the following therapies: Speech, OT, ABA and we just started a social skills group (hes also in a full day SN preschool). His communication skills are coming along nicely, even though he still has a long way to go in abstract communication. To me, the social piece is going to continue to be the biggest hurdle for him to get over. He has zero interest in peers at this point and will only engage another child if verbally prompted to do so. However, his ability to communicate and relate to myself, my husband and his grandparents that he sees all the time is really strong.
Because the socialization with peers piece is of great concern to me, Ive been looking for an RDI therapist to work with Ryan and our family and finally found someone. However, I just got her rates and its REALLY expensive. Since we are paying for all of Ryans therapies out of pocket, it will be really hard for us to swing this right now (Im sure many of you can relate). The initial assessment alone is 00.
For those of you that did or currently do RDI, how critical was this in getting your kid to relate to other peers? As I said, his ability to relate to his family (which I know is where RDI begins) is not really an issue so Im wondering if this is something I should hold off on (even though I may not have a choice due to the cost), or if its something that I should strongly consider in my attempt to help Ryan engage peers?
And for those of you that did not do RDI that had your kids overcome these same social issues, Id love to hear about any alternate approaches that you used.
Thanks.
I have no idea, but will be interested in others' replies as you pretty much described Tuhina's social development, as well.
You might also like to join Yahoo Floortime -- they talk a LOT about the social issues, and Floortime involves parental intervention, more than professional therapists'.
We did a ABA playgroup with 3 therapists with 3 nt kids and 3 asd kids and all the kids were rewarded for engaging each other. We did it for over 2 years and Sarah improved immensely in playing games, initiating conversations, and taking turns..joint attn..ect..the problem lied in her not generalizing or I feel her lack to generalize to other kids outside of playgroup..like at park or school. But she did learn all the skills needed to do so whenever she decides she wants a friend:) I was thinking RDI would help her in this area as well but knowing she does perfect with us at home and others she is interested in tells me it is a internal motivation thing and I dont think anything is going to force her to play with kids if she is not into them...she is getting better and for longer periods with peers than last summer so I am hopeful she will catch up eventually:) Shelley, I was thinking along the same lines, about Tuhina. That we can lead her to water, so to speak ... the skills are CLEARLY present when she interacts with her siblings, parents, one-on-one with adults, and sometimes, even with STRANGER peers, such as at a park ... puzzling, isn't it?Thanks Shelley- We just started Ryan in an ABA/Social Skills playgroup. How verbal was Sarah at the time she started? Ryan is definitely verbal but never to another child. Im so excited to have this in his repetoire...Sarah was 4 when she started and not too verbal but compliant to watch and go through the motions..at that time all language was promted...I ended it the last week of school this year as it was getting too steep at /hr and she was playing totally normal with these peers if not better than most nt kids...but she needed prompting still with peers at park..I feel the ABA playgroup was wonderful and was led by our original ABA therapists that went on to be a BCBA so she knew Sarah very well...they taught her as much as they could teach her IMHO and the social motivation has to kick in internally for Sarah and I dont think they could do that.I think the reason our kids relate better to people they know well is just because of that--they know us well! We are more or less predictable to them. Sure, my kid wants to socialize with others, but his difficulty is a result of his inability to work through his incompetence in socializing.
Now, RDI is expensive, but we do it and we see a difference. Think of it this way,RDI teaches/rehabilitates if you will, our kids with the skills they did not learn--like joint attention, referencing, etc. In the LONG RUN, your child will be more able to seek out friendships naturally and spontaneously, but RDI may seem slow in progress compared to ABA. (I don't know, we never did that). This though, I do know, if you do RDI, you have to sign a "contract" swearing you are not doing other therapies like ABA or Floortime (other than ST and OT). This may not sit well with you--but I would really look into RDI--especially being that your son is so young. RDI is FUN--it makes you and your husband/family involved and it uses everyday activities. It really modifies how you interact with your kids (both NT and ASD kids) and I truly believe it is the therapy that makes the most sense. Do some research--talk to the consultant in your area. RDI is new, and if you have someone nearby, take advantage of it.
From what I understand of it (which is little) one of the tenets of RDI is that it is designed to instill the motivation - to inspire the child to work hard to overcome their impediments and seek true, rich relationships with other people.We do RDI with a consultant, too.
23red is right on in her (?) description of RDI.
One of the reasons a consultant is very helpful to getting the full benefit of RDI is because RDI is a full family intervention, not a therapy done by a "professional" with the ASD child. RDI is a way of parenting your ASD child (and is a positive parenting style with all children, IMO.) A consultant not only familiarizes the parents with the many RDI steps and concepts, but acts as a counselor to the parents, who, separate from the children, work on clarifying their thoughts, goals, ways of interacting with their kids. A good RDI consultant will give you the full RDI experience and many wonderful benefits. And what you lean, you will take with you the rest of your life. You will not be dependent on a "specialist" to do RDI activities with your child.
If you are interested in getting started on your own, however, it surely can be done. Here is a great blog post from an RDI mom. She lays out what the first steps of RDI are and what the important aspects are:
http://thismom.blogs.com/this_mom/2006/11/ppp_day_7_getti.ht ml
We have been doing RDI in our home since January and the change is phenomenal. Our family is much more relaxed and happy. My husband and I know what we're doing with our ASD son and we have zero anxiety about parenting him, as an autistic child. This lift of anxiety, alone, has much to do with our son's success, but even more so are the many ways in which we are now educated about how to interact with him in order to enhance his social appreciation. Our son is progressing nicely in the social arena. This is a real and true social excitement, complete with emotional connection and lots of communication. RDI is not at all about teaching ASD kids social skills or making them interact. It's about familiarizing them with the very tiny, yet essential steps of social development. The more familiar a child is with these steps, the less likely he is to shy away from social interaction. And the more know-how he will have when he does make his own attempts to interact.
Our son, like yours, has always been fine with his family. But he hadn't a clue about other people or other kids. A typical child spends a good three or more years practising with his family before he ventures out to play with other kids and adults. Our ASD son was not soaking up social know-how just from being around us, as realaxed and emotionally connected as he was with us. RDI is teaching us how to teach him how to interact with people in general. And, IMO, this is the greatest assurance for success in life for anyone - social fluency.
Thanks for the replies. Is it REALLY true that if you sign up with a therapist then you have to sign a contract that you wont use any other kind of therapy? I had never heard that. I think Im better off reading Gutstein's book and seeing if I can teach it to myself.