Hi all. Well I have been hearing about RDI and that it is a good therapy to use for ASD kids, but can someone tell me what it is exactly? I googled RDI and got some info but couldnt really find out what it was and what it involves. Is it for verbal and nonverbal kids? My son is nonverbal... Well, I would appreciate any info on this. Thanks everyone!Relationship Development Intervention. It's a social skills approach that incorporates some of the wisdom of ABA. You might try pming LittleBoPeep -- she's our RDI maven. It's a valid and effective approach for many. The goal is to help teach both the parent and child HOW to develop a relationship. That doesn't always come naturally with autism present. There are expensive "coaches," but you can also just buy the book and try some of the exercises yourself. I know BoPeep has posted some videos of her and her son doing RDI things on You Tube. She will probably send you the link.Thanks tzoya!Thanks for your help, Bo.
Hey, all. jen PM'ed me, so thanks.
I don't get here as much as before, but my e-mail always alerts me when I have a PM. I try to keep up with the RDI threads when I can, though. (And read the "hot topic" threads, too!
BTW, Alex, my younger son, is doing great. He walked up to my mom, whom he hasn't seen in well over a year, last night and totally engaged her in some very sweet interaction. It was either all of the RDI we do or perhaps just the Magic of Grandma.
Cheers!
I hope that jen won't mind, but here is a copy of my answer to her. I do hope it's OK with you, jen, b/c there is nothing personal in the PM.
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RDI is a method by which parents learn how to socially mentor their ASD child in everyday situations. As a parent, you (ideally) work with an RDI consultant who gets to know your family and works with you (the parent) one on one, teaching you how you can help your child appreciate the social development steps he has missed. Lots of ASD kids (HF, LF and in between) have lots of great skills, but are missing many essential social skills that prevent them from interacting more fluidly. With RDI, you would learn what is missing and how to help your child appreciate the missing pieces.
RDI is multi-layered and an ongoing process. So you can learn about it forever. It has many, many stages that go from very basic infant-style play all the way up to complex group interaction, more like teenage interaction. The consultant's job is to teach you and work himself out of a job.
There are many RDI activities, but most importantly, RDI is something you do all the time. It's not a "therapy time" thing, but more of a state of mind, intentional approach thing. But just to give you an example of very beginning RDI activities, here is a video of our family when we began:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF1G6LTFR6Y
Here is our son ~5 months later, after we began RDI in our home:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSDGD2Rfx-Q
Here is a great blog post from a regular mom. She talks about what RDI is and how to get started:
http://thismom.blogs.com/this_mom/2006/11/ppp_day_7_getti.ht ml
Thanks again littlebopeepYou're welcome!