Another RDI question (sorry!) Hi, I am new to the board and come from Australia! Our five year old son was diagnosed a couple of months ago with Asperger's Disorder. We have just started an RDI program, along with speech therapy, occupational therapy and a 'play skills' group. His main issue is that he is totally clueless when it comes to playing with other kids. We have just started the educational phase of the program and we are finding it quite slow going. I would love to hear from anyone who is doing the program and to gain a bit on insight into whether RDI has helped their child the the social area at school/pre-school. We have a very close relationship with our son.... it is other people he has the problem with! Also, although he doesn't have a massive speech delay, his speech isn't great.... did you find your child's speech improved at all? I suppose I am being a bit impatient and want to get started with it all ASAP. Luckilly, our program is being funded by the government, so we are not paying for it.... but I still worry it is not going to be intensive enough. Anyway, I know this question has been asked before, so I apologise for taking up your time! Jitty. Hi Jitty, Are you living in Australia ? Which state ? We are getting nothing funded for by the govt and i'd be keen to know where you are able to access this program ? We pay for ST & OT/PT ourselves. I've been thinking about attending some other type of program because my son's major issues apart from lack of spoken words is socialising but quite frankly we just can't afford to pay for too much more. Same as you, DS is very close to me especially and fine mostly with other adults and older children but if peers get to close to him or try to interact he can't get away quick enough. Appreciate if you could give more info on this program. Cheers Hi - thanks for your posts and thanks for your thoughts on the RDI program 23rd - really interesting!   KittyCat - we are accessing RDi through the Helping Kids with Autism package. Have you been able to access that? We are paying (thought the teeth!) for speech, OT etc privately!   Jitty RDI may seem slow (for progress), but its progress and achievements are lifelong.  Your son is comfortable with you and knoews ahat to expect from you--others are unpredictable to him, that is why he wants nothing to do with others or with kids.  That is what RDI will do--help his brain to understand to accept variations and unpredictable things.  He will "learn " this through the objectives your consultant will assign you and tha activities you do with him.  RDI is AMAZING and youneed to stick with it and really practice it everyday. Yes, my son's speech improved--or rather I would say his comm. did.  Though minimal, his taliking with us is just that--a short conversation--not repeating or echoing.  RDI is slow and steady--take it for as long as it is paid for.  Thanks Jitty, I am going to make some enquiries about this. We were told that 'Helping Kids Package' didn't cover our OT/ST but not told what else we might be able to use it for. Everything i've seen in terms of services seems to be private & they advise the package doesn't cover them. I'll dig a little deeper... Cheers again Jitty, I just read some more about rdi & it sounds great. However I noted there are only 9 consultants in Australia and none in my state. All the best, I hope it is as promising as it sounds. Hi kittycat, There are more rdi people starting up all the time, so you might get someone closer to you eventually. If you were keen, there are lots of RDI blogs online. Lots of people don't do the formal program, but get ideas about RDI from all the info online. If you google RDI blogs or RDI games, you will find some ideas about simple things you can do. Good luck - I hope you are able to access your funding money!   Jitty Thanks Jitty, i'm rather excited by this whole RDI concept. I hadn't heard about it before - sounds perfect. My son is able to learn quickly so doesn't really need the ABA but is terribly socially inept. I've had suggestions to put him into daycare but I think he needs more specific social training than that. Over the summer i'm going to do loads of research & see how we can access this funding money also. Cheers again for the tips.
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