RDI?
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RDI?
| Sat, 07-16-2005 - 10:21pm |
Hi. My son's formal diagnosis (at 3yrs. 4 mos.) is verbal dyspraxia but I suspect that at some point he may be placed on the spectrum. One of my many questions is about RDI. I have read two books and lots of stuff on line about it. There are no trained professionals in my area, or in the surrounding areas. I know a few of you have implemented RDI. Are any of you doing it at home? If so, how did you get started? I know they sell a dvd, but it costs over $100 and I want to be sure it is outstanding before spending the $$. Thanks so much.
Chrissy

Chrissy,
We started doing RDI last year after attending the 4-day parent workshop in Reston, VA. As a psychologist, I will say the program is well-based in research. There is online support for parents who impliment the program on their own. Try joining one of the many listservs (e.g., RDI-Mid-Atlantic@yahoogroups.com). These will help you learn more about the program. You can work with or without a consultant. Quite a few people work with a consultant at a distance by mailing videotapes/disks to the person and getting feedback by phone or mail. Consultants are expensive but will send you a description of their agreement beforehand, so you are well informed. It is next to impossible to get consulting paid for by insurance. The more successful RDI parents I know have used a consultant for a year or so, learned from her, and then gone on with the program themselves.
I used to work in early intervention, psych research, and other related areas, so I felt pretty well prepared to take on RDI without a consultant. I don't test with the ADOS, however, because I am not trained on it. The ADOS helps you know where you are in the stages. I have basically used my intuition and knowledge of development to document progress. We do less with RDI now because I am pregnant and not feeling too good. I hope that in 6 mos or so we will be back on top of things, though.
Things I would recommend you buy for starting RDI are: the DVD, the activities books, 6-8 beanbag chairs, 2 beach balls, a crawling tube, a video camera, maybe some dry erase boards (good for keeping your goals and scheduled activities posted around the house). The DVD is really worth the money, even though it is expensive for a DVD. In fact, I would say the DVD will save you $ because you probably don't need to attend the parent workshop ($2000) if you view the DVD. You may eventually want to buy some lumber for a challenge course, but that is pretty cheap. Fine motor toys that you have sitting around, like blocks, Legos, K-Nex, and other such things are good for some of the referencing activities when you get to them. A lot of RDI can be done with everyday household objects and activities (washing dishes, washing clothes, sorting laundry, cooking, etc.). In fact, the program has been moving in the direction of doing everyday activities together with your child (lifestyle), more than planned "labtime". We still do some labtime when we are trying to spotlight a particular new skill, but much of our work is now done in "lifestyle" contexts.
Good buys on some items that I have found are: Target for beanbag chairs ($20 per chair), second hand kids' stores for kid's toys like blocks/Legos, www.orientaltrading.com for crawling tubes and other some other toys.
I also do floortime with my son. The combination works well for us, but many parents who do RDI like to focus just on that program. When you are learning a new program, I think it is also better to focus just on that. It took us about a year to get to a point where we felt proficient in RDI, and it took about 3-4 mos before we started seeing real results with our son. You have to be patient and organized to do this sort of thing with your child because progress is slow and at times it will seem like you are getting nowhere. The online support is very important in the beginning because of this factor.
Good luck and welcome to our board.
Suzi