Guiding Families (RDI®)
Who can benefit from RDI?
RDI® was originally developed by Dr. Steven E. Gutstein and Dr. Rachelle K. Sheely for families with a child with autism. They have also successfully used the evidence-based Family Consultation Program to help families facing a variety of challenges including Reactive Attachment Disorder, ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, and abuse/neglect, to name a few. While the program was initially developed to help children with these disorders, no one is too old to learn these skills. RDI® has helped people from ages 2 to 64.
What is a typical session like?
Most of the work involves assignments to be done between sessions. These assignments sometimes involve reading about a particular skill or developmental stage, watching a video, or creating an individualized plan to address a particular challenge. More often, the assignments involve practicing a skill.
For example, you might want to teach your child the importance of noticing when someone enters the room. Together, you and I will talk about when you will practice teaching your child this skill, how you will scaffold your behavior to improve the chance of success, and how you will respond to your child when they do notice.
One method for learning a skill is to videotape yourself practicing with your child. Your assignment might be to analyze the video, pointing out what you did, how your child responded, and what might have happened if you had done something different. I will also watch your video, and will do my own analysis. At the next session, we will discuss what we learned, and work together to determine what your next steps should be.
This work is supported by the RDIOS™ (RDI® Operating System), a secure, web-based system that connects parents and consultants, provides program information, and connects the members of the world-wide RDI® community.
Through collaboration, and by learning how to analyze and improve your performance, you will learn how to become the most effective teacher possible for your child.
What is involved?
The RDI® consultant first conducts an extensive assessment of family interactions, challenges faced by the child, and the environment in and outside of the home. Using this information, the consultant and family work together to develop objectives to help children overcome their core deficits. By providing you with specific tools and techniques, the RDI® consultant helps you restore your relationship with your child.
What is the RDI® platform?
The RDI® Learning Support Community is integral to the delivery of RDI®. It is a self-paced online education system accessible anywhere and any time. Depending on your interests and needs, you can access expert knowledge through on-line webinars, multimedia eLearning courses and tutorials that are dynamically configured to meet your needs.
Community members have their own customized objectives, but they can also guide other learners. You can help others as your experience allows, and get help when you need it. If you wish, you can create community resources, contributing to topic-specific wikis, forums, and blogs.
Learn more about the platform on the RDI® website.
What is the philosophy of RDI?
RDI® focuses on identifying and establishing the cognitive processes that may have been missed in your child’s early development.
We start by teaching parents about what autism is (not based on the diagnostic criteria, but based on research and on many conversations with autistic people).
The next step involves re-establishing what we call the Guiding Relationship. Because parents are prone to misinterpreting the information they are getting from their kids (because their kids respond in ways that may not make sense if you aren’t autistic) there is often a break in this fundamental relationship between parent and child. The goal is to help parents interpret what their kids are doing by thinking about what it is about their wiring that makes them respond as they do. It’s all about helping kids feel loved unconditionally for who they are.
Once kids and parents enjoy being around each other again, we start working on helping the kids to understand why their parents respond as they do, and we evaluate what developmental stages have been missed because of the breakdown in the guiding relationship. Then, and only then, can we dive into the work of helping the children through those developmental stages in a way that fundamentally respects who they are.
What is the research evidence for RDI®?
RDI® is an evidence-based family-centered intervention that is intensive, objective driven, and individualized. It targets the components of social-emotional development in the context of the parent-child relationship. Dr. Gutstein first described the approach in 2001 in his book, “Solving the Relationship Puzzle“. There are many research studies published in peer-reviewed journals documenting the validity of the following approaches:
- RDI® for remediating the core deficits of autism (e.g. joint attention, social communication, flexibility, and theory of mind);
- RDI® for improving overall functioning (per special education placement, ADOS diagnostic category, and other normed valid measures of ASD symptoms like flexibility and joint attention);
- Training parents with ongoing consultation using the parent-child relationship as a natural context for child learning and growth; and
- Incorporating intervention into daily routines that account for caregiver needs and child functioning.
As you work on the goals and objectives of RDI®, your child will:
- Problem solve in a more thoughtful, creative, and flexible manner;
- Communicate more effectively, using appropriate verbal (for those who are able) and non-verbal aspects of social language;
- Better regulate his or her emotions and behavior;
- More appropriately express empathy and improve his or her ability to take the perspective of others;
- Feel more competent, with greater assurance of his or her own self-worth;
- More easily adapt to new situations, settings, and routine changes;
- Be more independent at school; and
- Have a stronger relationship with parents, teachers, and peers.
As you work on the goals and objectives of RDI®, your child will:
- Problem solve in a more thoughtful, creative, and flexible manner;
- Communicate more effectively, using appropriate verbal (for those who are able) and non-verbal aspects of social language;
- Better regulate his or her emotions and behavior;
- More appropriately express empathy and improve his or her ability to take the perspective of others;
- Feel more competent, with greater assurance of his or her own self-worth;
- More easily adapt to new situations, settings, and routine changes;
- Be more independent at school; and
- Have a stronger relationship with parents, teachers, and peers.
A list of peer-reviewed published research on these topics can be found in this handout.
Who can benefit from RDI?
What is involved?
What is a typical session like?
For example, you might want to teach your child the importance of noticing when someone enters the room. Together, you and I will talk about when you will practice teaching your child this skill, how you will scaffold your behavior to improve the chance of success, and how you will respond to your child when they do notice.
One method for learning a skill is to videotape yourself practicing with your child. Your assignment might be to analyze the video, pointing out what you did, how your child responded, and what might have happened if you had done something different. I will also watch your video, and will do my own analysis. At the next session, we will discuss what we learned, and work together to determine what your next steps should be.
This work is supported by the RDIOS™ (RDI® Operating System), a secure, web-based system that connects parents and consultants, provides program information, and connects the members of the world-wide RDI® community.
Through collaboration, and by learning how to analyze and improve your performance, you will learn how to become the most effective teacher possible for your child.
What is the RDI® platform?
Community members have their own customized objectives, but they can also guide other learners. You can help others as your experience allows, and get help when you need it. If you wish, you can create community resources, contributing to topic-specific wikis, forums, and blogs.
Learn more about the platform on the RDI® website.
What is the philosophy of RDI?
We start by teaching parents about what autism is (not based on the diagnostic criteria, but based on research and on many conversations with autistic people).
The next step involves re-establishing what we call “the guiding relationship”. Because parents are prone to misinterpreting the information they are getting from their kids (because their kids respond in ways that may not make sense if you aren’t autistic) there is often a break in this fundamental relationship between parent and child. The goal is to help parents interpret what their kids are doing by thinking about what it is about their wiring that makes them respond as they do. It’s all about helping kids feel loved unconditionally for who they are.
Once kids and parents enjoy being around each other again, we start working on helping the kids to understand why their parents respond as they do, and we evaluate what developmental stages have been missed because of the breakdown in the guiding relationship. Then, and only then, can we dive into the work of helping the children through those developmental stages in a way that fundamentally respects who they are.
What is the research evidence for RDI®?
RDI® is an evidence-based family-centered intervention that is intensive, objective driven, and individualized. It targets the components of social-emotional development in the context of the parent-child relationship. Dr. Gutstein first described the approach in 2001 in his book, “Solving the Relationship Puzzle“. There are many research studies published in peer-reviewed journals documenting the validity of the following approaches:
- RDI® for remediating the core deficits of autism (e.g. joint attention, social communication, flexibility, and theory of mind);
- RDI® for improving overall functioning (per special education placement, ADOS diagnostic category, and other normed valid measures of ASD symptoms like flexibility and joint attention);
- Training parents with ongoing consultation using the parent-child relationship as a natural context for child learning and growth; and
- Incorporating intervention into daily routines that account for caregiver needs and child functioning.
Workshops
Guiding Exceptional Parents, LLC
P.O. Box 174
Riverdale, MD 20738-0174
301-768-8503
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What is RDI®
RDI® stands for Relationship Development Intervention. It is a family-focused program that restores the Guiding Relationship between caregivers/parents and their kids. Once the foundations of the caregivers’ Guiding Relationship with the child is in place, we then help children connect with other adults and their peers. Using the principles identified by researchers studying social and cognitive development, RDI® teaches caregivers how to scaffold learning situations so that they will provide a just right challenge for the child. Through this process, children learn that they can do hard things, and eventually develop a sense of curiosity that allows them to explore and master the unknown. RDI® does this by focusing on three areas: parent training, relationship building, and dynamic thinking. With careful work, families can help their child navigate the developmental process necessary for connecting with others.