Relationship Development Intervention
Encyclopedia
Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) is a trademark
ed proprietary
treatment program for autism spectrum
disorders (ASD), based on the belief that the development of dynamic intelligence is the key to improving the quality of life for individuals with autism
. The program's core philosophy is that individuals with autism can participate in authentic emotional relationships if they are exposed to them in a gradual, systematic way. The goal of treatment is to systematically build up the motivation and tools for successfully interacting in social relationships, to correct deficits in this area that are thought to be common to all people with autism.
RDI focuses on cultivating the building blocks of social connection -- such as referencing, emotion sharing, coregulation
, and experience sharing -- that normally develop in infancy and early childhood. RDI is a family-based program, where trained consultants support families to alter their interaction and communication styles. There is a period of parent education, followed by an assessment of both the child and the child-parent relationship. After that consultants support the family through a set of specific objectives to build a "guided participation" relationship between parents and child that will allow the child to once again become a "cognitive apprentice" to the parents. Once the cognitive apprenticeship is in place, the family can move on to specific cognitive remediation objectives for the child. These are developmentally staged objectives designed to restore optimal neural connectivity through a series of "discoveries" and "elaborations".
After four years, the RDI Program has evolved into RDIconnect, a company with a series of programs not only for individuals diagnosed with ASD, but for other populations as well. Along with a Consultant Training program, RDIConnect now offers the Family Guided Participation Program, Dynamic Education Program and the RDI Program for ASD, each accompanied by tools that help organize, expedite and create a continuous dialogue between professional and parent. RDIConnect now applies the quality assurance, level of treatment and training that has been central to their internationally known program and to a new audience.
There are now trained consultants in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Singapore, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
Latest publications by Dr. Steven Gutstein are: My Baby Can Dance - Stories of Autism, Asperger's and Success through the Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Program (2005), The Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Program and Education (2007), and The RDI Book - Forging New Pathways for Autism, Asperger's and PDD with the Relationship Development Intervention Program (2009).
Dynamic Intelligence means being able to think flexibly, take different perspectives, cope with change, process information simultaneously (e.g. listen and look at the same time), take into account different factors when making a decision. These abilities are essential in the real world.
Typical children develop dynamic intelligence through guided participation, that is being guided and given challenges by their caregivers. Due to their social difficulties, this relationship breaks down in children with ASD and so families must be supported to re-build it, in a slow and more deliberate manner. Children need to learn to reference their parents, share emotions and use experience-sharing language to build a close and trusting relationship where they can learn and cope with the uncertainty of life.
In a recent peer reviewed study, children whose families had participated in RDI and who had relatively high IQ at start of treatment showed dramatic changes in diagnosic category on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), though the study represented a non-experimental study without a control group and whose evaluators were not blinded to time in treatment.
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
ed proprietary
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
treatment program for autism spectrum
Autism spectrum
The term "autism spectrum" is often used to describe disorders that are currently classified as pervasive developmental disorders. Pervasive developmental disorders include autism, Asperger syndrome, Childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise...
disorders (ASD), based on the belief that the development of dynamic intelligence is the key to improving the quality of life for individuals with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
. The program's core philosophy is that individuals with autism can participate in authentic emotional relationships if they are exposed to them in a gradual, systematic way. The goal of treatment is to systematically build up the motivation and tools for successfully interacting in social relationships, to correct deficits in this area that are thought to be common to all people with autism.
RDI focuses on cultivating the building blocks of social connection -- such as referencing, emotion sharing, coregulation
Coregulation
Coregulation is a term described by psychologist , as a "continuous unfolding of individual action that is susceptible to being continuously modified by the continuously changing actions of the partner." An important aspect of this idea is that communication is a continuous and dynamic process,...
, and experience sharing -- that normally develop in infancy and early childhood. RDI is a family-based program, where trained consultants support families to alter their interaction and communication styles. There is a period of parent education, followed by an assessment of both the child and the child-parent relationship. After that consultants support the family through a set of specific objectives to build a "guided participation" relationship between parents and child that will allow the child to once again become a "cognitive apprentice" to the parents. Once the cognitive apprenticeship is in place, the family can move on to specific cognitive remediation objectives for the child. These are developmentally staged objectives designed to restore optimal neural connectivity through a series of "discoveries" and "elaborations".
After four years, the RDI Program has evolved into RDIconnect, a company with a series of programs not only for individuals diagnosed with ASD, but for other populations as well. Along with a Consultant Training program, RDIConnect now offers the Family Guided Participation Program, Dynamic Education Program and the RDI Program for ASD, each accompanied by tools that help organize, expedite and create a continuous dialogue between professional and parent. RDIConnect now applies the quality assurance, level of treatment and training that has been central to their internationally known program and to a new audience.
History
The RDI program is based upon a model of dynamic intelligence developed by Dr. Steven Gutstein. Gutstein studied the means by which typical children become competent in the world of emotional relationships. He looked at the research in developmental psychology and found that early parent-infant interaction predicted later abilities in language, thinking and social development. Two books of RDI-based activities as well as a book explaining the background ideas were published in 2002, but RDI has changed significantly since then and is now only available through the RDI_LS, or learning system, accessed by trained consultants.There are now trained consultants in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Singapore, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
Latest publications by Dr. Steven Gutstein are: My Baby Can Dance - Stories of Autism, Asperger's and Success through the Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Program (2005), The Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Program and Education (2007), and The RDI Book - Forging New Pathways for Autism, Asperger's and PDD with the Relationship Development Intervention Program (2009).
Major Ideas
Neural underconnectivity in people with ASD leads to a rigid and static view of the world. Because of this dislike of change and inability to cope with new information, people with ASD do not develop dynamic intelligence which is essential for relationships, independence and quality of life.Dynamic Intelligence means being able to think flexibly, take different perspectives, cope with change, process information simultaneously (e.g. listen and look at the same time), take into account different factors when making a decision. These abilities are essential in the real world.
Typical children develop dynamic intelligence through guided participation, that is being guided and given challenges by their caregivers. Due to their social difficulties, this relationship breaks down in children with ASD and so families must be supported to re-build it, in a slow and more deliberate manner. Children need to learn to reference their parents, share emotions and use experience-sharing language to build a close and trusting relationship where they can learn and cope with the uncertainty of life.
Research on RDI
While the Connections Center has conducted two studies into RDI, there have been as yet no independent studies, although there is currently one study being conducted at the University of Sydney, Australia.In a recent peer reviewed study, children whose families had participated in RDI and who had relatively high IQ at start of treatment showed dramatic changes in diagnosic category on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), though the study represented a non-experimental study without a control group and whose evaluators were not blinded to time in treatment.