Relationship Development
Intervention (RDI)® F.A.Q.’s
Q. What is RDI®?
A. RDI® (Relationship Development Intervention®)
is a parent-centered, home-based intervention focused on REMEDIATING THE
CORE DEFICITS OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS and related disabilities. Dr. Steven Gutstein,
PhD, a psychologist, developed the intervention upon being dissatisfied with
the long-term quality of life outcomes he was seeing with the with his clients
with autism, with whom he had been using behavioral methods. RDI® is based on the most recent research in
the areas of neurology and developmental psychology by highly respected leaders
in these fields, such as Dr. Nancy Minshew, Peter
Hobson, Jessica Hobson, Alan Sroufe, Daniel Stern,
Daniel Siegel, Phillip Rochat, Laura Berk, and Barbara Rogoff, and
many others.
Q. What are the “core deficits of
autism”?
A. The core deficits of autism are all related to
the person’s deficits in processing “dynamic” information – information related
to change. The brains of persons with
autism are “wired” in a way that they have more of a tendency to process
information and therefore view and respond to their world in a “static”
way. This reliance on static processing
and corresponding deficit in dynamic processing is manifested in many ways,
including problems with social relationships (which require continual change
and adaptability), a need for routines and rituals, perseverative
behaviors, problems with transitions, inability to appraise situations for
appropriate meaning, and many other areas.
Q. How does
RDI® work?
A. RDI® Program Certified Consultants train and
coach parents on how to work with their own child in their everyday lifestyle
in ways that result in remediation or lessening of the core deficit areas over
time.
Q. How is RDI® different from
A.
RDI® is not focused on eliciting particular
behaviors or teaching discrete skills.
Rather, the intervention is about building “mindfulness” in the
individual. Mindfulness is the ability
to think in flexible and fluid ways, adapt to new situations easily, problem
solve creatively, regulate oneself emotionally and physically according to the
situation, develop a healthy self-concept, and view oneself as a competent
individual. All of this requires dynamic
processing ability on the part of the brain.
The teaching method used in RDI® is “Guided Participation” or the
“Coach-Apprentice Relationship” between the parent and the child. This method is used because it is the normal
and natural way that parents of typical children have taught their children to
think dynamically for thousands of years.
The challenge for parents of children with autism usually is in
establishing the type of relationship in which the child is motivated to use
parents as guides and the parent feels competent to act as a guide.
In RDI®, certified consultants function as guides
to parents. Parents are taught how to
guide their child in gaining dynamic intelligence. RDI® Program Certified
Consultants never act as direct interventionists to the child. This model ensures that parents will always
be the primary interventionists in their child’s dynamic intelligence
growth. Parents gain competence in
parenting their child and most feel a renewed sense of confidence and
empowerment. Parents usually find that
problem behaviors are mitigated or eliminated through this intervention. Family stress levels are reduced and the
quality of life for both the child and the family as a whole improves greatly.
Q. What kind of results will I see in my
child?
A. In many cases children show improvements in
the following areas:
Q. Does RDI® include a step-by-step plan
for parents to help their child?
A. Yes. Dr.
Steven Gutstein, the developer of the RDI® Program,
has exhaustively researched the development of dynamic intelligence in typical
children from infancy on. He has
developed a hierarchy of objectives that essentially serves as a roadmap in
“building a mind” from the bottom up, beginning at the earliest developmental
steps in which the child shows deficits.
The RDI® Program Certified Consultant first guides parents through a
series of “parent objectives” that involve changing the way they view, relate
to, interact with, and communicate with their child in their everyday
life. An assessment that includes the child
and both parents is performed (the RDA® or “Relationship Development
Assessment®). This assessment examines
both the state of the parent-child guided participation relationship and the
child’s developmental level. After
parent objectives are mastered, the consultant guides the parents on how to
work on specific developmental child objectives to develop dynamic thinking.
Q. What kind of time commitment is
required of parents?
A. For about the first three to six months,
parents attend consultation sessions with the consultant once per week on
average. The child does not attend. Sessions typically last 1-2
hours. The RDA® (Relationship
Development Assessment®), involving about 3-4 hours per week with parents
and/or child over a 2-3 week period, is then performed. After the RDA®, parents typically meet with
the consultant once every two weeks for the duration of the program. Homework is assigned between consultation
sessions and parents are taught step by step how to apply the new concepts to
everyday interactions with their child.
Q. How long does a typical RDI® program
take to complete?
A. RDI® is a long-term, gradual remediation
program. Some families continue RDI®
programs for several years or more.
However, families often see positive results in their child, such as an
increase in social language, better behavioral regulation, more motivation and
initiative to engage socially, and/or better adaptability to change, within
months or even weeks.
Q. Can I obtain the RDI® developmental child objectives and work on
them myself without using an RDI® Program Certified Consultant?
A. No.
Parents need to be working with an RDI® Program Certified Consultant in
order to have access to the developmental child objectives.
Q. What is the
cost of an RDI® Program?
A. Typical
cost is about $10,000 per year for the first year and about $5,000 per year for
subsequent years. This compares very
favorably to the cost of other intensive intervention programs, which often
cost $50,000 per year or more with many hours per week of direct intervention
time.
Q. Is there any peer-reviewed research demonstrating the
effectiveness of RDI®?
A. Yes. An article summarizing the results of a
recent RDI® study was published in the September 2007 issue of the
peer-reviewed journal Autism.
Copies of the article are available from RDI® Program Certified
Consultants. Another study led by Drs.
Peter and Jessica Hobson is currently underway.
Preliminary results are available from RDI® Program certified
consultants.
Q. Can RDI®
and
A. Since the two interventions work toward different
goals, with
Q. My child’s therapist says
she is doing RDI® with my child. I also
go to a social skills group that the director says is based on RDI®. Does that mean I already have an RDI® Program for my child?
A. No. Over the years parents
and professionals have used the term “RDI” to refer to many things. Parents sometimes believed they were “doing
RDI” or “getting RDI” when in fact what they were doing or what the child was
getting was not RDI® at all. In some
instances this confusion still exists.
To prevent misunderstanding and “watering down” of the intervention and
to ensure quality control, the terms “RDI®” “RDI® Program,” and the RDI®
Protocol are now trademark protected.
RDI® is not a direct therapy model.
RDI® Program certified consultants work with parents, not the child. RDI® is a very specific, step-by-step program
of intervention that evolves continually in response to the newest research in
the fields of autism and typical child development. Social skills groups are rarely used as a
part of the RDI® Protocol, and never for younger children. You may or may not believe your child is
deriving benefit from social skills groups and/or therapies that the provider
claims use RDI or are based on RDI.
However, unless the provider is certified and following the protocol
prescribed by The Connections Center, your child is not receiving RDI®. Providers who are not certified in RDI® and
are using the term RDI® in association with their services are infringing on a
trademark and are misrepresenting the intervention.
Q. Where do I
get further information on RDI®?
A. Refer to the RDI website, www.rdiconnect.com and contact:
Laura B. DeAngelo,
A.B., M.B.A., RDI® Program Certified Consultant
Autism Family Services,
LLC
deangelo@autismfamilyservices.com