Forging New Pathways

RDI: μια Παρέμβαση Επικεντρωμένη στην Οικογένεια

Elizabeth Alford — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:55:00 GMT

Ενδιαφέρθηκα στο πρόγραμμα RDI όταν ο γιος μου,μετά από λίγα χρόνια εντατικής πρώιμης παρέμβασης, γράφτηκε στο δημοτικό σχολείο με παράλληλη στήριξη.

Παρόλο που ο Άλεξ τα κατάφερε με το πρόγραμμα των μαθημάτων και έγινε αποδεκτός από τους συμμαθητές και τους δασκάλους του, συνέχιζε να παλεύει με κοινωνικά και συμπεριφορικά θέματα.

Η έλλειψη προσαρμοστικότητας και συναισθηματικής αυτό-ρύθμισης είχαν αρνητική επίδραση στην καθημερινότητά του και προκαλούσαν πολλές εντάσεις στην οικογένειά μας.

Εκείνο το διάστημα άρχισα να διαβάζω για το RDI. Πολύ γρήγορα συνειδητοποίησα ότι η παρέμβαση αυτή ήταν ακριβώς αυτό που χρειαζόταν ο γιος μου, αλλά και η οικογένειά μας.

Όταν ξεκινήσαμε το πρόγραμμα του RDI με μια σύμβουλο από την Αμερική , η αυτοπεποίθησή μου επανήλθε και για πρώτη φορά μετά από ένα μεγάλο χρονικό διάστημα ένιωσα ενδυναμωμένη ως γονιός. Ήξερα τι έπρεπε να κάνω και γιατί.

Αυτό που εκτίμησα περισσότερο είναι ότι το RDI είναι μια παρέμβαση επικεντρωμένη στην οικογένεια, που αναγνωρίζει το κεντρικό ρόλο που παίζει η οικογένεια στη ζωή των παιδιών.

Στο RDI οι γονείς καθιερώνουν από την αρχή το ρόλο τους ως καθοδηγητές των παιδιών τους, ένα ρόλο που διαταράσσεται από τα εμπόδια που οφείλονται σε νευρολογικές επιπλοκές.

Πριν αρχίσουν να εργάζονται με τα παιδιά τους, οι γονείς εκπαιδεύονται από συμβούλους RDI. Στην αρχή μελετούν μια σειρά γονικών στόχων όπου μαθαίνουν πώς λειτουργεί ο αυτισμός, πώς λειτουργεί το παιδί και πώς οι γονείς μπορούν να χρησιμοποιήσουν αυτές τις πληροφορίες για να γίνουν αποτελεσματικότεροι καθοδηγητές, ειδικά για το παιδί τους.

Μετά τα πρώτα στάδια των γονικών στόχων, συνεργαστήκαμε με την σύμβουλό μας προκειμένου να θέσουμε τις προκλήσεις εκείνες που θα ενθάρρυναν τη γνωστική, την κοινωνική και την επικοινωνιακή εξέλιξη του παιδιού μας.

Καθώς εφαρμόζαμε το πρόγραμμα του RDI με απλές καθημερινές δραστηριότητες, ο γιος μου άρχισε να με εμπιστεύεται και να δέχεται την καθοδήγησή μου και τις προκλήσεις που του έδινα.

Οι στόχοι του γιου μου επιλέχθηκαν σύμφωνα με την τυπική ανάπτυξη αφού πρώτα καθορίσαμε πού ακριβώς βρισκόταν το παιδί στο εξελικτικό του μονοπάτι.

Με αυτό τον τρόπο του δώσαμε μια δεύτερη ευκαιρία να μάθει ξανά, στο δικό του ρυθμό, όσα είχε χάσει, μέσα από μια σειρά ρεαλιστικών και εφικτών στόχων.

Καινοτομία και αλλαγές εισήχθησαν με πολύ αργούς ρυθμούς και προσεκτικά επιλέξαμε τις προκλήσεις εκείνες που ταίριαζαν με τις ικανότητές του και το στάδιο ανάπτυξής του ώστε να ενισχυθεί η αυτοπεποίθηση και τα εσωτερικά του κίνητρα.

Μια από τις πιο σημαντικές διαστάσεις του RDI είναι ότι η εστίαση δεν είναι στο να παρακινούμε το παιδί να κάνει κάτι, αλλά στο να του δίνουμε ευκαιρίες να μαθαίνει κάτω από τη στήριξη των γονιών. Αυτό ήταν λιγότερο εξαντλητικό τόσο για μένα όσο και για το παιδί μου. Δεν υπήρχε πλέον ανάγκη να περιμένουμε κάτι ή να αποκομίζουμε κάτι από αυτό, αλλά μέσα από τη μεταξύ μας αλληλεπίδραση ο γιος μου έκανε τις δικές του ανακαλύψεις και έμαθε να σκέφτεται και όχι απλά να εκμαιεύει μια συμπεριφορά.

Μετά από πάνω από δυο χρόνια εφαρμογής του RDI, ο γιος μου σήμερα είναι περισσότερο πρόθυμος να μοιράζεται εμπειρίες με άλλους, να επικοινωνεί πιο αποτελεσματικά, είναι συνεργάσιμος και πιο προσαρμοστικός και έχει μια γνήσια περιέργεια και επιθυμία να μάθει από τους άλλους.

Το πιο σημαντικό είναι ότι η σχέση μας δυνάμωσε και η ποιότητα ζωής βελτιώθηκε για όλα τα μέλη της οικογένειάς μας. Εξαιτίας αυτής της μεταμόρφωσης στο παιδί και στη ζωή της οικογένειας μου, αποφάσισα να γίνω και εγώ σύμβουλος RDI ώστε να μπορώ να στηρίζω και να εμπνέω οικογένειες και να βοηθώ τα παιδιά τους που ανήκουν στο φάσμα να κατακτήσουν το πλήρες τους δυναμικό.

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Όννις Σιμόνα: πιστοποιημένη σύμβουλος της RDI, με έδρα την Αθήνα/Ελλάδα. Με υπόβαθρο στην ειδική αγωγή, είναι επίσης μια περήφανη μαμά παιδιού που ανήκει στο αυτιστικό φάσμα. Αφού είδε τις θετικές αλλαγές που έφερε το πρόγραμμα του RDI στην οικογένειά της, το 2012 έγινε και η ίδια σύμβουλος του προγράμματος. Με πάθος μοιράζεται τις γνώσεις της και υποστηρίζει οικογένειες με παιδιά του αυτιστικού φάσματος, μέσω του προγράμματος του RDI.

What Does an RDI Program Really Look Like?

Elizabeth Alford — Tue, 28 May 2013 21:09:00 GMT

The following article by Sue Simmons was originally published here

So, you’re a parent that wants to take the lead in your child’s treatment. You want to feel competent as a parent again, and you don’t want to pass your child off to someone else, leaving you out of the equation. What will an RDI Program do for you?

- It will give you a clear understanding of why your daily life is so challenging, exactly how autism has taken your child from you, and how we will go about taking him back.

- It will provide a customized road map that will finally give you back the helm, reduce out of control behaviour; and allow you to enjoy a more harmonious home life.

- It will enable you to feel in sync with your child and know how to manage when problems arise.

- You will be amazed as you watch your child’s social and emotional growth unfold as a result of your efforts.

- You will have an experienced coach that understands your frustrations, has lived through extreme challenges and has brought families back “from the brink!”

So why start with Parent Training? Isn’t this about your child?

My clients inevitably tell me that the first few months of parent training would benefit all families – not just those struggling with ASD. This is completely true. Parent Training restores a healthy parent-child dynamic and rebuilds a family’s structure from the ground up.

Just as it’s beneficial to have a trainer at the gym, having a Certified RDI Consultant/Family Coach in your corner is no different. All parents feel like their family dynamics are off kilter at some point. However, when you’re dealing with neuro-developmental disorders (including ADD/ADHD) the picture becomes far more complex. No matter how well-read, patient or well-intended you may be – parenting a child with a neuro-developmental disorder leaves parents feeling hopeless and helpless … and it’s not your fault!

Each and every piece of learning in Parent Training – both theoretical and practical – builds on the previous. Parents develop a clear understanding of their situation, how it came to be, and how, as a team, we will get the family ship back on course. Together, we will address numerous aspects of life. To name just a few … quieting your family’s schedule to slow your pace, understanding your parenting style(s), parent and child strengths and obstacles, and addressing self care – all with the goal of moving parents toward the same page and with consistent goals. Challenges begin to make sense – and solutions bring about positive change. This stage of parent training sets the compass in the right direction, and third party assistance is immensely helpful.

So what’s next? Once the family ship is at least pointed in the right direction, our goal is to put the helm directly back into the rightful hands of the co-captains! Do you remember the carnival game, “Whack a Mole” in which you “whack a mole” only to have two pop up? The mix of anxious children, stressed-out parents and autism is enough to send anyone to the brink. I coach parents to prioritize limits, and to learn how to set and enforce them clearly and consistently with their children. Aggression, challenging behaviour and unhealthy patterns are addressed. Parents learn strategies for when their child is unco-operative, how to manage play dates, holidays and other stressful situations. By the time these items have been crossed off the list, the family ship is back on course and the skies have parted!

Next parents learn how to involve their child in simple, household activities. Children, who previously responded fearfully to parents’ attempts to engage them at home, begin to experience trust and feelings of competence. The more the child experience feelings of competence, the more he/she is motivated to participate and interact with parents. This is the “magic moment” when parents themselves feel confident in being able to guide their child and know what to do when things go “south!”

During this stage, parents also learn how to slow their communicative pace and stay mentally “one step ahead” of their child; an essential aspect of guiding. They learn to weave in amplified nonverbal communication, which increases social referencing and builds the foundation for self awareness, problem solving and understanding the emotional state of parents and others. All-in-all, by this stage, co-captains have cultivated a firm but loving environment, and have deck hands that are for the most part eager to chip in. After all, our goal is not only to get your own ship in order, but eventually to enable your children to become captains of their own ship! All of this takes place over the course of a few months, during bi-weekly sessions – either in person, by phone or via Skype – and at a pace that is manageable. In between, parents have “homework” assignments which move them, bit by bit, toward a happier and healthier family life. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

In Part Two we’ll examine what comes next – how co-captains learn to transfer increasingly complex cognitive skills to their child through experiential learning. Plus, you’ll hear about one family’s amazing story of their son’s emerging self-awareness and self-dialogue, and how it has impacted their lives.

Sue Simmons, P.B.H.E.
Certified RDI® Program Consultant and Family Coach
Equinox Autism Consulting Ltd.
99 Lakeside Drive
Ennismore, ON
Phone: 705.875.4605
Email: equinox@bell.net
Website: www.equinoxac.ca

Family Consultation Program by Marija Savitt, M.A.

Elizabeth Alford — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:31:00 GMT

As a program certified consultant participating in the RDI program I am always happy to share my excitement with just about anyone who will listen.

One thing that I treasure about the RDI program is the Family Consultation Program (FCP), which I believe is a unique and a wonderful resource for families. The FCP is an organized system that allows both the certified consultant and parent to easily follow steps in the RDI program.

It is like having a manual to help both parents and consultant follow a very detailed and individualized support system. As a child I remember my parents asking for a manual as well as many others since. I believe what they are really asking for is some guidance or a way to know that they are not making the wrong decision about raising their child. While the FCP may not claim to have all the answers; it is one step in the right direction. The FCP provides parents with information that is critical to the RDI program including concepts such as dynamic intelligence, broadband communication, and guided participation. Guided Participation is a concept that bonds parents all over the world regardless of their child's ability. It is a very complex system that is used by parents to teach their children.

The easiest way for me to think about guided participation is in terms of teaching your child how to walk. When you first realized your child was ready to walk you did not set them in the middle of the room and let them go. You had this natural instinct to hold on tight and show them how to takes steps. From there you started slowly loosening your hold and allowing your child to take over this process. If you really stop to remember the time when you did this with your child it is a beautiful process. This is the process of

guiding your child into learning something new. It is one that we take for granted and this always breaks down for parents of children with autism. The most important single thing you can do is restore this process and that is where the FCP comes into place.

The Family Consultation Program is the beginning of any RDI program. It is the set of steps a parent must take to become a better guide to their child regardless of their ability. It outlines the identification of areas where as parents you can embark on the changes necessary to be the best you can as well as the things that could be impacting your child. In the FCP, a certified consultant guides you through identifying areas of concern and sets you up for success in the RDI program. The FCP allows you to learn what it takes to be a good guide to your child and the steps that will help get you there.

Marija Savitt, M.A. is a program certified RDI and PRT consultant and takes pride in her ability to implement the program design while providing a meaningful experience in your families life. She owns and operates Guided Spectrum along with her husband, Justin.

www.facebook.com/GuidedSpectrum
GuidedSpectrum.wordpress.com
GuidedSpectrum@gmail.com
Chico: 530-588-4539
San Diego: 619-886-0159

Featured Consultant: Rebecca Doolittle-McFalls, 2013 Tenet Hall of Fame Hero

Elizabeth Alford — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:31:00 GMT

The following is taken from a Tenet press release to announce the2013 Tenet Hall of Fame, a recognition program that honors exceptional individuals who have made exemplary contributions to patients, their hospitals, colleagues or the communities in which they work and live.

Certified Consultant, Rebecca McFalls

Becky, a certified RDI consultant, is affectionately known as the “super nanny” for families dealing with children with autism. She manages a robust outpatient rehabilitation operation, which includes two pediatric clinics and an adult clinic and oversees the Level II NICU at East Cooper Medical Center. In all that she does, she consistently goes above and beyond for families dealing with autism and people come from all over the area to seek her help and expertise.

One day, the mother of an 8-year-old son with Asperger’s and ADHD met Becky in the hospital cafeteria. Seeing Becky’s enthusiasm and sincerity, the mother inquired about what Becky did at the hospital. Little did she know that Becky was exactly what her family needed to help navigate the difficult issues that can arise when a family member has autism.

“After multiple failed attempts at therapies across the spectrum,” the mom writes, “I thought our family was ‘stuck’ with minimal resources, little to no guidance and a very grey future for my son’s success. Becky made me realize that with therapy, training and a little support, my family, including my son, had a very bright future.”

Becky was able to establish a healthy, meaningful relationship with the boy - something that no one else had been able to do previously. After three months of occupational therapy sessions, the little boy’s tantrums went from several times a day to a couple of times a week. His eating habits and communication skills have improved, and he has a more positive attitude in general. With Becky’s help, his parents now have the tools to nurture their son along with his younger siblings. The mother says that Becky made her see how fortunate she is to have such a special son.

Becky is also an innovative thinker who is never satisfied with the status quo or her previous performance. Recently, she put together an innovative tool to monitor the Medicare cap in the adult clinic, which enables the department to track the amount of money a patient has used toward their maximum amount. In another example of her commitment to performance excellence, Becky was key in recognizing opportunities for improvement in the annual Employee Engagement Survey. Identifying a need, Becky helped to bridge the communication gap between the rehab associates and the senior leadership team at the hospital by involving senior team members more in meetings and activities. These efforts have made Becky a key leader in the hospital.

Her influence extends beyond the hospital. She volunteers in the community as an expert on autism spectrum disorders, participates in early prevention efforts at child care centers and leads the hospital’s participation in local walks benefiting autism research and awareness. Becky’s ability to design innovative, progressive programs while connecting with her patients and educating the community are the reasons she is a Tenet Hero.

A Book Review: A Child's Recovery from Autism

Elizabeth Alford — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:16:00 GMT

"A Child's Recovery From Autism: Finding Success in a Maze of Therapies" by Hanna Rotbaum

The following book review was written by RDI Certified Consultant, Gail Ludwig, for Amazon.com and is from the eyes of an RDI® consultant.

This author found RDI® (Relationship Development Intervention) to be one of the crucial interventions for her son. I applaud this mom and her relentless search for help to save her autistic son from a life of isolation. Throughout her son's regressions, which appeared to be related to biomedical challenges, she consistently worked with him using an RDI® approach.

RDI® is a developmental intervention that gives a child a second chance to master foundational concepts typically achieved in the first few years of life. Parents are guided by a consultant which empowers them to give their child or children opportunities for social, emotional and cognitive growth. The goal is to slowly transfer the responsibility from the consultant to the parent and from the parent to the child. The intervention allows the autistic child to think for him or herself instead of being dependent on others. As its founder Dr. Stephen Gutstein says, " RDI® is a marathon and not a sprint," meaning that it is a slow process and may take years to accomplish. Through this approach and The Amy Yasko Protocol (for biomedical support) the author shares the progress her son made in being able to negotiate our dynamic social and emotional world. She shares how with her guidance, he was ultimately able to develop successful relationships with family and friends. She gives examples of activities that she did with her son during his early childhood years. Because of her extreme dedication, even after months and months of struggles, she persevered and was victorious.

For this mother, RDI® became a way of life and because she made the commitment to giving her son opportunities throughout each and every day, she achieved a great outcome.

My work as an RDI® consultant has been the most rewarding work in my thirty year career working with adults and children with disabilities. Each and every day I help families give their children opportunities for growth. My wish is that this book will give parents of autistic children the hope that with the right interventions there is hope for their child or children. Many interventions are mentioned in this book. What is most important is that parents know about all of them and make the best choices for their family. The message in this book is one of optimism. It shows that if parents are determined and continue to search for the right intervention and work hard, remediation and even recovery is possible.

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Gail Ludwig has been an RDI^®Program Certified Consultant for five years. Currently employed by The Autism Group in San Diego, which also employs five other RDI^®Program Certified Consultants. At first Gail specialized in working with teens and adults, but now works with families who have children of all ages. In addition to traditional RDI^® programs; Gail trains classroom aides and shadows, and also RDI^®extenders, and supervises school and extender programs. Continuing with her practice as a speech/language pathologist, over the past couple of years Gail has applied the principles of RDI^®to her speech clients as well. Email Gail

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Elizabeth Alford — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:27:00 GMT

The following is written by RDI mom, Carol.

Every six months or so I realize how far we’ve come. It’s funny because when I’m in the moment, in the thick of recognizing a whole ream of new things that need to be addressed, it can be hard to see progress.

Today is one such day that I’m savouring the progress. I can remember the little man used to bounce in the stroller so hard I thought he would knock it over or knock his brains out - this was just two summers ago (just over a year ago). I remember the running back and forth, the lying on the ground, the saying “I’m tired” to anything that had a sniff of difficulty in it (walking, playdoh, colouring, you name it) or getting so distracted that I thought I would lose my marbles. This was as recent as six months ago.

There are times when I explain what we’re doing to help Z to other people it feels so flaky, so deceivingly simple that I wonder if its doing anything at all. These times are rare because I have huge faith in the philosophy of RDI, but inevitably doubt creeps in when I see the differences that remain with Z and his peers.

The Importance of Simple but Clear Intentions
But the reality is that these simple things that we are doing, and most importantly the intention behind them being to give him a feeling of competence, have made a world of difference.

Today I realized how long ago it is that he bounced in his stroller and car seat - something that he did for years before RDI. This morning he pulled out the badminton set and wanted to play - we couldn’t play any sort of back and forth ball game a year ago because of all the perceived failure when the ball would drop and now he asks to play badminton? Something that we fail at after two hits? And then I had to stop the activity because I was getting bored. Such persistence!!!

It seems so simple that it’s easy to underestimate the monumental progress this represents. It’s significant because he is not just wanting to try badminton, he’s experiencing a desire to try what seems like anything and everything. So his development is just taking off without me having to pull him along. And the interesting thing is this started a year ago and I celebrated it then - but a year later this desire is so much deeper and his confidence and idea creation so much more mature. I’m beginning to understand that each RDI objective we work on will mature over a long period of time to become even more remarkable than it first appears when he “gets” the objective.

I can imagine many people would think, oh he’s just maturing... or big deal he wants to play badminton. The point is, the strategies in RDI style parenting helped us get to this point - they are clearly driven toward building intrinsic desire to learn and participate and that is what makes RDI different (one feature among many). We’ve never tried to develop certain “skills” like ball throwing in RDI. And that was so relieving to me because there are SO many skills to be learned in life! I found skill focused therapy exhausting and terrifying to think about the millions of skills he would need to thrive in life.

But instead focusing on building the desire to learn and participate changes everything. The activity doesn’t matter, its just the intention you bring to any activity. I don’t even have to think about what skills to work on anymore - finally the freedom that a typical parent enjoys! Just trusting that development will happen because the child is driving it forward - this is a freedom that for a while I thought I would never have.

What Does Our Progress Look Like?
In the past six months (perhaps even just the past two months) he’s started embracing fine motor activities like a mad man. I don’t do ANY of these with him as a guided activity - I feel like I need to be really careful with this because we made him do so many of these for so long that he had major anxiety around those activities whenever I would try them. So we focus our RDI stuff on other things. But the desire to learn that is arising from our RDI is translating to activities that he does on his own!

So now in unschooling fashion I just casually provide him with art and fine motor materials. First it was just a black crayon and a high quality writing pad. One colour of paint and paper always on the easel - he responded by creating a painting every day (talk about building fine motor strength!!!). Then I added markers, scissors and glue to his little box of markers to take in the car and he made 10 different creations and gave them to his Dad as a gift. No pressure, just opportunity to explore. And he is flourishing - I think largely because he has developed such an interest in expanding his competencies and exploring the world over the past year or so.

Part of why I’m reflecting on this today is because we just returned from a playdate where we brought our homemade playdoh (that we made together as an RDI activity in the morning). He sat at the table for an hour exploring the playdoh, trying it in different molds and using a rolling pin and interacting with the kids - I couldn’t have really even imagined this 6 months ago because of the fine motor issues.

So yes, we have made remarkable progress - and it kinda sneaks up on us.

He’s exploring, experimenting, trying new things, coming up with his own ideas for us to do, and beyond that his “skill” development of new concepts and activities he can do is just exploding. His favourite sayings right now are “Look what I can do” or “Look what I made”. His social interaction skills with me (primary guide) are phenomenally changed, he still has a long way to go with peers when he experiences anxiety but as I write this I realize how much can change - almost imperceptibly at the time - over six months. And his co-regulation with peers when his anxiety is in check is already impressive compared to a year ago.

Gratitude
And we have been through enough to be incredibly, deeply, grateful for this gift of progress.

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Carol is mom to a beautiful, spunky six your old boy. She is passionate about RDI, currently homeschooling her son and enjoys spending time with friends, camping, blogging, yoga and all things nature-based. The above story was originally published here on Carol's blog.

Can An ASD Child's Brain Really Be Rewired?

Elizabeth Alford — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:00:00 GMT

The following article by Sue Simmons was orginally published here.

RDI Certified Consultant, Sue Simmons

Every child is born with the innate drive to be social, and relate to others. So why do children with ASD have such difficulty in this area? The answer, of course, is due to their neural makeup. This innate drive may sometimes be masked in ASD children, but believe me, it is there and can be tapped into - read on!

Children with ASD literally miss early, critical steps of development due to their atypical brain “wiring”. This means that they are deprived of the developmental foundations that are necessary for all further cognitive and social development.

In plain language, early development is essential for children to learn the subtleties of nonverbal communication, the ability to understand others’ feelings and develop resilience. So just how do these interpersonal skills develop? You guessed it - through simple, play-like interactions between parents and child.

In an RDI Program parents are coached to bring about their child’s desire and capacity for connection - in a slow, steady and developmentally sequenced fashion. Initially, they learn to engage the child at his or her level. Through staying “one step ahead” of their child’s thinking, they are coached to bring him or her to the point where genuine, reciprocal interaction is enjoyable and emotionally satisfying. The child’s need for control diminishes, and is replaced by a desire to communicate in a genuine and reciprocal fashion!

I work with several families that have two children - in many cases, the older sibling is on the autism spectrum, and the younger child is unaffected. For me, this offers a huge benefit. Why? It enables me to point out to parents how they relate to their typically developing child - and how in turn that child relates to them. It enables them to observe cognitive skills in their younger child, which in many cases we are working toward in their ASD child. In essence, the younger child serves as a “model” and allows parents to experience what they’re looking for in their ASD child.

Much like building a muscle, building a child’s capacity and desire for connection requires dedication, patience and time, but it is entirely possible. In fact, once families get to a certain point where their child is happier and engaging regularly, I need to remind them to think back to when that was only a pipe dream! It’s so easy to forget how challenging things were once life is easier and crisis is in the past.

One thing I know for sure is that real, lasting and mind-boggling shifts are entirely possible for these kids and their families. I am constantly “raising the bar” with my families, encouraging them to expect more! Gone are the days when the best we can expect is to shape behaviours in order to prevent a child from “sticking out.” These kids can be brought to a point where they are successful active social participants and problem solvers - and then some!

Does this mean that their brains really can be rewired? Yes, it does! A rigorous year-long study involving 50 families of ASD children done at York University in Toronto proved it. The study used an intervention known as “Floortime” which like RDI, is a developmentally based program involving parents. Researchers saw dramatic changes both in the “wiring” of the brain, and social capacity after one year of treatment. So what, you ask, is the difference between Floortime and RDI? Along with the connection that is developed through Floortime, RDI goes further and enables parents to guide their child’s cognitive development. It is also woven into each family’s lifestyle in a custom manner.

One of the biggest challenges (and gifts) for families I work with is slowing down... slowing their pace of life and communication, and carving out time to be with their child. Is it worth it? When I hear stories about happy family vacations, unexpected hugs and I love you’s, simple yet profound moments, peaceful walks - I have to say - yes, it certainly is.

To view a CBC News story on the York University study noted above, click here.

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Sue Simmons, P.B.H.E.
Certified RDI® Program Consultant and Family Coach
Equinox Autism Consulting Ltd.
99 Lakeside Drive
Ennismore, ON
Phone: 705.875.4605
Email: equinox@bell.net
Website: www.equinoxac.ca

The "A" Word

Elizabeth Alford — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:41:00 GMT

The "A" Word by Mariya Savitt

RDI Certified Consultant, Mariya Savitt

When it comes to the "A" word there seems to be various views on its exposure to your child with Autism. In my experience, I have seen two groups. The first group that uses the term Autism as part of their daily language. The second group that avoids the word at all cost. I do not feel there is a right or wrong way. Regardless of your approach,chances are that one day you will contemplate whether or not to tell your child they have autism. The child that hears it everyday many not know how it applies to them.

On the contrary the child that does not hear it may hear it for the first time. Regardless of the reason, when you get to the point where you are ready to talk to your child there are a few things to consider.

The first thing to think about is your child's readiness. There are certain things that your child should have developed beforeexpecting that they will understand what you are telling them. You will want to evaluate the following points before considering a conversation.

Do you have a strong trusting Guided Participating Relationship with your child?
Is your child resilient during times of emotional discomfort?
Does your child identify differences in others.
Can your child understand that people have different opinions and perspectives?
Can you describe Autism in terms your child can understand and relate to.

If you answered yes to the above questions your child may be ready for you to talk to them. It will be helpful for you to practice the talk with someone who is familiar with your child so you can work through possible scenarios.

Assessing your child's readiness is only half of the process. The second area to consider is your child's response to learning they have autism. Be prepared to answer questions. You will also want to consider things such as does your child have depression or anxiety? If yes, you may want to consult the support of a licensed therapist. Consider any behavioral responses your child may have in response to learning they have autism. Does your child have the type of personality that they may use the information as and excuse to not do something in the future? You know your child best. Write a list of all your concerns and make a plan of how to address them prior to talking with your child.

Telling your child that they have autism can be difficult. As a parent you never want to tell your child that there is something wrong or different about them. Keeping a positive attitude that is focused on your child's strengths while considering these points for planning will make this difficult discussion easier.

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Marija Savitt, M.A. is a program certified RDI consultant in

Chico, CA. She owns and operates her practice Guided

Spectrum, LLC where she provides the RDI program as

well as individualized social skills groups. She has her M.A.

in Educational Psychology and Counseling and has been

working in the autism field for nearly 14 years. For more

information you can reference the following:

www.facebook.com/GuidedSpectrum

www.GuidedSpectrum.wordpress.com

Email: GuidedSpectrum@gmail.com

Phone: 530-588-4539

Stop Telling me What to Do!

Elizabeth Alford — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:38:00 GMT

Stop Telling me What to Do! by Laura Hynes

RDI Certified Consultant, Laura Hynes

Individuals with autism process information slower than we do. For some reason, the professional community has gotten into the habit of not providing these individuals with enough time to think. They are constantly being given the answer and prompted through everything.

These individuals are also static, inflexible thinkers. They are driven by sameness and routines. This can be debilitating in the real world because it’s just not how the world is. The professional community, again, has fallen into a pattern of providing that very same debilitating sameness and routines for these children, never allowing them to practice being flexible.

A main focus of RDI is eliminating prompt dependency through increasing wait time to allow a child to think. Anyone who has seen or participated in RDI, knows that this can, at times, feel like an eternity. If we never let the child practice thinking and just prompt them through life, of course they will be prompt dependent!

Another main focus of RDI is to improve flexibility by not engaging in rigid routines and not allowing the child to be controlled by their need for things to remain unchanged.

This moment is a parent’s discovery at how important this concept actually is. Warning: this is not a feel good, make you all mushy inside at the end, moment.

Angela is a 13 year old girl with autism. She’s a very passive and compliant kid who has learned through years of behavioral therapy that she can just wait to be told what to do. It became clear, very early on in her RDI program that not only did she not have any intentional actions, she had even less intentional thought.

Angela’s shower and bedtime routine has been the same for well over a year. Shower, pajamas on in the bathroom (which mom lays out), brush teeth, put on face lotion, brush hair, take medication, turn off light; all of which she does completely independently.

Mom’s assignment was to change the bedtime routine and allow Angela the time she needed to think and figure out what she needed to do. The purpose of this was to address Angela’s overwhelming reliance on routines and schedules.

The only change mom incorporated was that instead of laying her pajamas out in the bathroom, they were laid out in her bedroom, 1 door away.

Angela got out of the shower and mom guided her to her room, where she stood for 2 minutes with a towel, then the towel dropped and she stood for another minute, naked. Mom then handed her her underwear which she proceeded to put on. With the pajamas on the bed, only about a foot away, Angela stood, not knowing what to do.

After several minutes, mom looked toward the pajamas on the bed and Angela realized they were there and proceeded to put them on.

Once she was dressed, she didn’t return to the bathroom to complete her routine. After several minutes, mom guided her back to the bathroom where Angela stood at the sink, again, no idea what to do. About a minute later, mom handed her her toothbrush and she brushed her teeth. Once she was done, she went to turn out the light. Mom just shook her head no and Angela became upset. Again, after about a minute, mom gestured toward the lotion and she put it on. She went for the light again. This pattern continued through every single step of her routine.

Her 20 minute shower routine turned into an hour.

Angela has been mindlessly following this routine every night for over a year. Some of you reading this might say, well, she obviously needs the routine or the prompting to be able to do this. Not true. This will only exacerbate the problem. What she needs is more opportunity to think on her own, to learn how to appraise situations and to problem solve.

Angela, as well as all children with autism, need people to believe they are capable, stop compensating for them and to be afforded the opportunity to think, consider and be successful. Sure, maintaining a routine and prompting would have been much easier, not only for the Angela but for Mom as well.

The reality is, the real world changes moment to moment, things rarely stay the same and there is no one to compensate for a person’s inability to manage that.

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Laura Hynes, LMSW, graduated from Stony Brook University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Child and Family Studies in 2001. She continued on to New York University where she obtained a Masters degree in Social Work in 2005 with a specialty in children and families. Laura's post graduate employment was with both they New York City Early Intervention Program and the Committee on Preschool Special Education. In October of 2008, Laura became the only certified Relationship Development Intervention consultant on Staten Island and is currently one of only four in New York City. Laura foundedExtraordinary Minds in 2007 and currently serves as it's president. She is also a Licensed Social Worker in New York and Pennsylvania and has also completed the clinical training in administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS).

More than Just a Client

Elizabeth Alford — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:53:00 GMT

More than Just a Client by Christina Grahl

“This is Tina. She’s my RDI® consultant and I am her client”. These are the words of a young man I’ve worked with from the time he was a little boy as he introduced me to one of his classmates. While factually what he said is a true statement, in many respects he’s very much mistaken. Truth is he’s so much more than a client to me because he has helped shape not only my career, but he’s responsible for igniting my passion for helping children and families with Autism. This is the story of a boy named Johnny (name changed for confidentiality).

Even early on in my pursuit of a Psychology degree, I knew that I wanted to help children on the Autism spectrum. In one of my classes they put out a call for students that wanted to help out with shadowing at school and a 1:1 home program for two young children. It was then, nearly 13 years ago, I met my very first “clients” or children that I had the pleasure of working with, Johnny and his older sister Mary (name changed for confidentiality). We worked together for several years until I took a full-time position which had the unfortunate consequence of not being able to work with Johnny and Mary any longer.

Years passed, but I kept in touch with how they both were doing through another consultant friend of mine that was still working with them. I was always glad to hear that they were doing well and was intrigued when I learned that they were beginning to work with a new program called RDI®. I had been hearing about this new approach and the thought of helping kids get on a more typically developmental path really started to appeal to me. Finally, I could no longer deny that becoming an RDI® consultant was what I really wanted to do. I made a leap of faith and joined a small team of friends and former co-workers who’d already become RDI® certified consultants. As an added bonus, both Johnny and Mary were clients of my new firm and I’d see them from time to time at our office. I was able to hear of and see for myself the progress they’d made since my days working with them long ago.

Fast forward several years and here I am a certified RDI® consultant. I’ve had the pleasure of helping children and their families connect on a profound level. In an unexpected turn of events, I’ve even had the good fortune to once again work with Johnny and Mary. They’ve grown so much since I first worked with them so many years ago. Then again, so have I. The progress and growth I’ve heard about, I now have the privilege of witnessing for myself. Johnny has made progress in the areas of self-awareness and we are working on him becoming more independent, advocating for himself and recognizing and dealing with events when they are “beyond his edge”.

This brings us back to him introducing me as his consultant and identifying himself as my client. To him I’d say, “No, Johnny. You are more than that. You are a special soul and because of you I have passion to help parents and children. Because of you I have had the pleasure to see the beautiful impact RDI® can have on families and lives especially yours. Because of who you are I want to continue to help support and guide you to grow and develop. My hope is that I can influence your life in such positive manner as you have done for me and return the favor.”

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Tina Grahl has over ten years experience working with children with autism, pervasive developmental disorder/not otherwise specified (PDD/NOS), and related disorders. She began her career in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as a therapist while attending Rutgers University where she earned her BA in psychology. After several years of working in ABA home programs, Tina began working as a behavior specialist for Virtua Early Intervention in 2002. During her time at Early Intervention she worked with a variety of families and children ages birth - 3. Tina is contracted by several school districts in New Jersey to provide families with knowledge and training in Relationship Development Intervention (RDI®). Tina can be reached at tina@kidsahead.net.

How RDI Has Impacted our Lives

Elizabeth Alford — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:20:00 GMT

The following was submitted by an RDI mom to 6-year old T and works with Certified Consultant, Carol Subramani.

We started RDI two years ago...when my son had already undergone two years of all kinds of intensive ABA therapies - speech included- plus going to regular school with a shadow teacher.

In the first meeting with our RDI Consultant, my son did not respond when she held out something to him and waited without saying “TAKE”!!!.... After two years of intensive ABA and schooling and home sessions, my son was not be able to understand this simple gesture which even a few months-old neuro typical baby understands easily!!!!!.....I was shocked and hurt!!!. I would never have realized how my child was not thinking dynamically if I had not met Carol, our RDI Consultant, that day.

But as we all know, late is better than never, my husband and I have chosen RDI . We have witnessed our son calm down, understand non-verbal communication, start thinking on his own, be less anxious, less confused and more clear about his surroundings. He has begun responding to not only us but to anyone and is ready to adapt to new environments; is communicating sensibly and not just with parrot-like speech.

I feel as if I've got my son back after years...now he talks to me , shares his experiences with me, asks genuine questions because he is curious (and not the programmed ones which was all he had). I am happy that my son is truly getting "EDUCATED" day by day and not a TRAINED ROBOT any more. I am highly grateful and thankful to the RDI Family Consultation Program which has completely changed our lives,or rather, saved our lives. RDI has shown us REAL improvement and has given us REAL hope.

Carol Subramani is an RDI Program Certified Consultant based in Wadala, Mumbai. She has a background in communication, education and behavioural intervention for children with ASD. She is passionate about RDI and grateful for the opportunity to work with caring and nurturing parents on the road to remediation of their children’s autism.

Through RDI, We Have Regained Hope

Elizabeth Alford — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:36:00 GMT

The following story was submitted by Michelle Davis, an RDI mom who works with consultant, Scott Pryor

There were some warning signs showing in our son's development in his second year. We decided to have him evaluated as soon as we were were done with our out-of-state move. We wanted to hear "developmental delay". Instead, we heard "autism".

Funny, our only reference to autism was the stupid Tom Cruise movie. We were devastated. The future was now filled with trepidation. The more I looked for information, the more confused I became. We tried diet changes and the public school system with little success.

The school district recommended a special class that was a "blend" of students from typical to any range of special need. We struggled through that for two years. I wanted to know what to do for my son at home and got very little if any feedback. Somehow I wasn't "qualified" to meet his special needs, and the school was. We had frustrating IEP meetings where I would constantly ask about what I could be doing at home to help.

After a VERY frustrated end-of-year assessment, I started looking for answers. I was introduced to a mother who had raised one autistic son and had a boy my son's age who had been diagnosed with autism very early as they were familiar with the signs. She would have answers. She'd been here before. She was bewildered with my questions, and had spent thousands on special schools and therapists but could not see any differences in the way her younger son was developing. She'd given up on her eighteen year old. He just was what he was. She couldn't afford her ABA therapist anymore and told me it seemed to help some, or at least it would feel like I was doing something and warned that I would probably run into waiting lists.

I was beyond discouraged. Our son is the youngest of eight. I was homeschooling four of the children. Where would I find time for appointments and hour from home. In my search, someone recommended I find in-home therapy. I found a name on-line for a therapist almost two hours away. I hoped that they might know someone closer by.

I spent two hours on the phone that day on one phone call. He asked so many questions about us and our son. He asked what we knew about ABA therapy. Then he asked me if I'd ever heard of RDI.

RDI. We knew it was what we were looking for because it made sense. Malachi's development was dependent on us. We were surprised and pleased to find that our consultant would be working primarily with us as parents. It wasn't like taking a child to a doctor to fix a broken bone. This was an every day, long term issue carried out by the people who loved and knew him best. For the first time since his diagnosis, we understood what the primary deficit was and what we could start doing about it. And we found something that was a benefit to our whole family, not a therapy that isolated Malachi from the rest of the family physically, emotionally, and financially.

After two years of working with our consultant I can't even begin to tell you how good it feels to be a competent parent. It feels so good to no longer feel like I'm failing my child. During our first year we had worked up a scenario of what we would like to see in our son in a year. When I look back I can't help but cry. He exceeded what our hopes were; partly because we were scared to hope. Now our hopes are greater. He is far more capable of having a good quality of life than we ever knew. We are far more capable of helping him get there than we ever knew, and are looking forward to the journey.

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Scott Pryor has been working with families of children on theAutism Spectrum for 15 years. He received a B.S. in Psychology from Brigham Young University and was then trained as an ABA consultant, starting his private practice in 2003. After seeing the positive changes made in families using the RDI program, Scott became an RDIÒ Program Certified Consultant in 2009. Based in Utah, Scott works with families in Utah, Idaho and Montana. Email Scott

A Leader is Best...

Elizabeth Alford — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:14:00 GMT

A Leader is Best...

RDI Certified Consultant,
Melissa Chan

by Melissa Chan

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” - Lao Tzu

In a recent parent meeting, one mother told me that she remembers an instance when she was an apprentice to a guide and that she can relay all that she learned but can’t say exactly how she was instructed. I replied with this quote because it reminded me of what she had experienced. This isn’t to say that guides should be invisible or sink into the background but what they impart or transfer has to be owned by their apprentice(s). Whatever is overcome has to feel like their success along with their guide's so that it allows them to feel their triumph over “Edge +1”.

This quote speaks more to the impression an “Edge + 1” triumph leaves on an apprentice rather than the role of the guide. However, with that in mind it helps us as guides, direct our actions so that what we frame and spotlight builds resilience through an initial feeling of success. We have all heard the importance of authentic and meaningful roles which lend themselves to cooperative activity. In putting this into practice it is important to use a slow pace to make repairs as necessary and engage in an activity where the apprentice can experience what is just out of reach. Pulling from my knowledge as an occupational therapist I like to make sure that whatever sensory issues, motor skills and visual/perceptual motor skills (or lack thereof) have minimal impact on chosen engagements. In this way we can focus more on what factors impede issues such as joint attention and co-regulatory decision making.

So as guides to apprentices whether it be parent/child or consultant/parent let us set up successes so that what we transfer, creates a feeling of “We did it!”.

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Melissa Chan, OTR/L RDI CC, has been an Occupational Therapist since 2001 and has worked for the past ten years at LearningSpring School, a school for children on the autism spectrum located in New York City. In 2012 she became a certified RDI consultant and is one of two LearningSpring staff members who work with families at the school. RDI has completely changed how I work as an occupational therapist and I love the family-based approach.

RDI at a Distance: the pros and cons

Elizabeth Alford — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 15:32:00 GMT

This is part two of an article about working with clients at a distance, by RDI consultant and Australian Training Center Directer, Prue Watson. Read part one

Last week I shared that a bulk of my practice is working with families at a distance. The RDI Learning Community and technology such as Skype makes geography less of an issue. Obviously there are positives and negatives to this arrangement. This article focuses on what a distance relationship can mean for a family and a consultant

Distance for families
One veteran parent has this to say about these long distance relationships:

"A long, long time ago, in the old days, when we submitted 30 minutes of video, posted it overseas and received written feedback by (email 3 weeks later!!), this was difficult for us. It probably would be for most families, especially in the beginning stages as it was harder to understand and 'get it', and we needed to remain motivated to see progress. But it was the best we could manage and so we invested in this - and we did see some progress....Then, we had a closer but still at-a-distance RDI Consultant where we did regular Skype sessions and some face-to-face visits, either travelling to the consultant's area or meeting half way to do RDAs or reviews. This was better since we could link the theory with the practice and could see how we could plan, evaluate and progress. We were more motivated as it was more hands on than before....Fewer face-to-face meetings mean we get very intensive time with our consultant. These sessions helped to cement the relationship and give our consultant a good look at the family including sibling/s couple relationship and whole family, over a few days doing various structured and unstructured things."

As I have chatted with many such families about their experiences, there were similar themes to their responses. The following is some feedback about the advantages of their distance relationship with their consultant:

Choosing a consultant

It helped us access a consultant when there was no one locally.
We can have the consultant of our choice, whoever works best for your family. Someone local may not be the best fit for your family.
We don't have to change our service provider / consultant if we move locations - we like this continuity.

Skype appointments

We use this for 'hands on' modeling and demos during our sessions and that did work for us!
These are more convenient since we don't have to travel to get to see consultant.
Appointments more easily scheduled to suit the time needs of the family and consultant.
There are no hassles about driving or parking or allowing time to get there and I don't have to get dressed up or tidy house up to see consultant!
I can do our scheduled skype sessions even when we are away as the session is portable.
One partner can be in another city and still do three-way session with the consultant

Face-to-face sessions

Our sessions more focused often due to the limited time available
We more focused on the topic or work assignment since there is limited time with consultant in sessions
These visits are often for a longer time or can be a series of face to face contacts during a visit, so this helps our continuity and helps transfer thinking into practice
One of the advantages is that we get to travel! We drove 9 hours from Tamworth to Brisbane and then 8 hours form Brisbane to Rockhampton to have our first RDA! The family had a holiday and we got to see more of the countryside.
We value our consultant visits more

Other

The availability of technology and internet is essential for our success...Our consultant is only a click or text away!
It makes us as parents think and work harder to apply the process
I am more motivated to make it work, as it is the only way I can do it
I like the way it makes 'us' more responsible for the work done rather relying on an outside person to provide this

Certainly there are disadvantages to working at a distance. While one person said they I couldn't think of any significant negatives, here are a few responses:

The Consultant may not get the full picture of how we operate at home
We may often want more hands on guidance but we have to work it out ourselves
We have to manage variable internet - speed and availability - to make session work sometimes
I think it is harder when child has a lot of issues sometimes
The work tends to be more " wordy" and less experiential. Parents do not get the same hands-on modeling in skype sessions and sometimes we would like more of this. (but is possible to act out and do stuff over skype too - leads to greater creativity in consultant and more exaggerated non verbals and crazy hats!)
It may be okay for parents down the track who are past readiness and understanding the process but I don't think it is so good for new parents still in crisis, new to concepts, difficulty understanding it if only given as intellectual/ talking style

Managing the distance working as a consultant
Another aspect of an RDI Long distance relationship has come from the consultant connection that has been established with a number of RDI consultants in the different and often isolated regions across Australia. This came about as a need to create a consortium to allow us to access the government funding for helping children with autism package. To do this there needed to be a multi disciplinary provider consortium that could be an approved provider to this funding package for families.

To achieve that we formed a group called Connect and Relate for Autism CARFA. This was initially formed to allow us as RDI Consultants access to Australian government funding that came available for ASD children under 7 years of age. While we had different backgrounds we promoted ourselves as providing the RDI programme to families, and so CARFA was created.

So from Hobart, Melbourne, Mildura, Canberra, Brisbane and Rockhampton we all meet every two weeks to discuss, plan, share and support aspects of our business, our case work, our proposals and plans for the coming months / year, our professional and RDI development, our stories and our support. We do this online every two weeks and only meet face to face for our annual AGM and conference. We have established a strong and motivated group approach to supporting each other and distance is not an obstacle!

Things to consider
If you find yourself as a parent or consultant contemplating a RDI Long Distance Relationship, here are some tips:

See the values and potentials rather than the obstacles
Be 'present' in the time you have together either online or in a face to face space
Be flexible but maintain the focus on creating the regular commitment to the relationship
Establish a way between you that can provide that face-to-face time
Check in together with how things are going between you in the long distance relationship
Be creative in how you might use the technology to help you each feel closer across the distance. I am reminded of how I was able to guide parents via modeling my strategic pausing decisions during self-care activities. Here is one of my funny little clips

(Please visit the site to view this media)

In Conclusion
What I am grateful for, and what stands out for me is that, during my "RDI life", the long distance relationships I have made with clients, with my consultant colleagues in Australia and elsewhere, and with RDI Connect and Dr G and Dr S, and with all the RDI friends I have met from across the world, are relationships that strengthen and support, motivate and challenge me, and I will always have an investment in distance!!

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Prue Watson is an Occupational Therapist andRDI® Certified Consultant who consults with families in Central Queensland and surrounding remote areas. She also serves as an RDI training supervisor and is the Director of the newly established Australian Training Center.

CARFA Connect and Relate for Autism Inc

Ph 07 49289831 Mob 0404461739

www.connectandrelateforautism.com.au

www.pruewatson-ot.com.au
pruewatsonrdi@bigpond.com

What a Transition: Our Experience with RDI

Elizabeth Alford — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:47:00 GMT

RDI dad, Steve Williams, shares a bit about what RDI had meant to his family. The Williams family works with RDI Certified Consultant, Kate D'Anvers

Our son Finn was diagnosed as Asperger's when he was 3 ½ and he has just had his 7th birthday. When he was about 4 years old, we began RDI therapy with our consultant, Kate.

We were receptive to the basic “dynamic vs static” tenet of RDI because it simply made sense to us on a logical level and we had no reservations joining the program. In parallel to the RDI course we have also explored dietary issues and our son has been on a strict gluten and dairy-free diet since he started RDI.

While it is impossible to accurately measure the direct impact of RDI (because our case has a sample size of 1 with no control group!), we both firmly believe that the skills Finn has learned (and continues to learn) in his RDI course have been absolutely fundamental to his transition from a disconnected, anti-social 4 year old prone to meltdowns and difficult to manage to what he is now – someone who take part in all normal activities (i.e. school, socially, family etc) without special treatment or supervision. Our son is popular at school (albeit with a quirky sense of humor) and while we are still working on some of his behaviors he does not obviously stand out from the crowd of kids around him.

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Forging New Pathways

RDI: μια Παρέμβαση Επικεντρωμένη στην Οικογένεια

What Does an RDI Program Really Look Like?

So why start with Parent Training? Isn’t this about your child?

Sue Simmons, P.B.H.E.Certified RDI® Program Consultant and Family CoachEquinox Autism Consulting Ltd.99 Lakeside DriveEnnismore, ONPhone: 705.875.4605Email: equinox@bell.netWebsite: www.equinoxac.ca

Family Consultation Program by Marija Savitt, M.A.

Featured Consultant: Rebecca Doolittle-McFalls, 2013 Tenet Hall of Fame Hero

A Book Review: A Child's Recovery from Autism

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Can An ASD Child's Brain Really Be Rewired?

The "A" Word

Stop Telling me What to Do!

More than Just a Client

How RDI Has Impacted our Lives

Through RDI, We Have Regained Hope

A Leader is Best...

RDI at a Distance: the pros and cons

What a Transition: Our Experience with RDI

Sue Simmons, P.B.H.E.
Certified RDI® Program Consultant and Family Coach
Equinox Autism Consulting Ltd.
99 Lakeside Drive
Ennismore, ON
Phone: 705.875.4605
Email: equinox@bell.net
Website: www.equinoxac.ca