WoolC Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Hi all, just wanted to come back and give an update on the RDI therapy we started in November since some have asked. Our RDI specialist was one of the first to be certified and has worked with kids on the spectrum for over 20 years, I think this turned out to be more valuable than the RDI protocol for our family in particular. After reading many books about autism and checking out resources on my own like Zones of Regulation, Social Thinking products, etc. I was tempted to think I could handle everything on my own without paying for formal therapy. However, things became so stressful in our home that I finally reached out to start RDI. Our consultant is also certified in MNRI so we did a dual program. After working with my son for several weeks, our consultant told me that a lot of his behaviors are not at all typical for a child with ASD diagnosis. She strongly believes his challenges are rooted in an anxiety disorder and has referred us for further evaluations which we have scheduled for mid- March. I'm sorry I can't be of more help to all of you as far as giving an inside scoop on RDI. What I will say is, if like me, you're trying to help your child the best you can at home but you have that nagging feeling that something isn't quite right, go get the help you need. I wish I hadn't hesitated so long. Our consultant was able to see things that an evaluator seeing the child for an hour or two just couldn't see. I'm so thankful to have more direction in getting help for our son, regardless of what label we end up with. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I am so glad this is working out for your son and your family! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 That's fabulous!!!!!!!!!! So did they actually end up giving you RDI homework? Is she doing most of it herself? How many times a week? Or you're saying she felt he didn't need RDI? Was he previously diagnosed with ASD, so your March evals will be round 2? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoolC Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 We did about a month of RDI homework before she suggested that we might have a misdiagnosis. We would video the homework and and review with our consultant each week. Homework included patterning, where I would hand an object to ds and then he would place it, we did this throughout our day loading dishwasher, washing machine, books on a shelf, etc. emphasizing eye contact and exaggerated facial expressions to improve joint attention. One week we videoed turn taking on various games and tasks. The RDI portion was mostly the consultant working with me, giving me assignments to work on during the week, then giving feedback. We were working on building episodic memory in my ds and she also helped me get a game plan for how to deal with specific struggles my ds faces. The consultant worked directly with my ds once a week for the MNRI portion and it was during this that she began noticing discrepancies between his diagnosis and his behaviors. Yes, we had received an ASD level 2 diagnosis in May of last year from a psychologist so this will be round 2 of evals. The psychiatrist we're using this time has more experience with anxiety and ASD so hopefully will be better able to tease out the root issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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