We have been helping families and individuals work through the challenges of Autism and Aspergers syndrome for many years. The success we have is truly rewarding and we are so grateful to be able to help and grow with our families. We are proud to have “our families” share their success with us here.
Emily, age 5
We have seen remarkable changes in our 5 year-old daughter, Emily, as a result of her RDI® program in just one year. Her eye contact and ability to participate in interaction has improved dramatically. Not only has her speech improved in number and diversity of words, but her communication both verbally and non-verbally is far richer as she can express her feelings of sadness, joy, fear, etc. Emily now seeks out interaction with us and others. She is able to use her imagination and create an identity for herself, such as a bunny-rabbit or a princess. This is not just imitation of a video or a copy of someone else, but an identity created by her in unique, imaginative play.
One of our greatest joys has been watching her interact with her developmentally normal twin sister. We have tried other therapies since her diagnosis at age 2, but have seen the greatest improvement with the RDI® method. We believe that, through RDI®, Emily will eventually be able to lead a fairly normal life with the chance to have a career, marry, raise children and be a productive member of society.
Our RDI® Consultant has been an invaluable resource, permitting us to give Emily quality therapy as well as allowing us to provide a relatively normal home life for her and our other children.
Jason, age 6
Our son was diagnosed with ASD at the age of three. Our initial reaction was one of shock as we struggled to find a way to handle the repetitive behaviours and obsessions that were evident. We researched various programs and attended an RDI® seminar presented by Dr. Gutstein. We were impressed to find that he had developed a program that not only took into account the child’s best interests, but how the parents would be feeling as well. When we began working with an RDI® Consultant, we knew we had found someone capable of helping us form a lifestyle that best fit our family. As a Special Education teacher, I was familiar with other programs, such as ABA, though it was not something I felt comfortable using in my home. Our consultant helped guide us past the initial survival stage to feeling more competent in working with our son. We began with a four year old obsessed with lights and repetitive patterns. Now, our child seeks us out and is capable of handling any change in routine that we throw at him. The most exciting thing for us is that we have a program in place that will grow as our son grows and respond to his changing needs. Today, he is a happy, inquisitive six year old, eager to respond to various challenges.
Gerry, age 18
When our son was diagnosed with Autism, we wanted to know why it happened to our child, what will happen to him in the future, and how can we help him right now. Many people over the years tried and failed to give us answers to our burning questions. Until we discovered RDI®, we thought the best we could do for our 18 year-old son was to continue to physically and emotionally exhaust ourselves using “tried and true” prompting continuum methods. No one offered real hope for kids his age. His whole life we’d been educating him, teaching him the social skills that came so naturally to us, giving him opportunities for developmental growth, and enrolled him in programs that promised the moon, but didn’t deliver. How could RDI® be any different?
Well, it didn’t require a PHD to understand the premise of the treatment model. We are now discovering how to “turn on” the various channels of communication that for years have gone undeveloped in our son. After a year of RDI®, we don’t have the same son as we did before. Now, when he walks into a room I am not just part of the furniture. He looks at me, and I am greeted each morning with a nice, soft hug and a “good morning Mom.” He has Autism and always will. Gerry sees the world differently than we do, and I’m okay with that. I can finally see his social understanding begin to emerge. He is learning to tease his little sister, laugh at jokes (and tell them on occasion), spend quality time with people he likes and meet challenges instead of running from them. These things make all the difference in the world to our family.
Michael, age 12
Our son was diagnosed late, but whenever it happens, it’s still a shock. We went the traditional route of finding a consultant to plan out therapy for him and we hired people to fill the required positions. Throughout his therapy, we continued to have a constant battle with my son to ‘get’ him to do the things that he was supposed to do. Our family was in crisis with every day being a struggle and feeling hopeless, until an acquaintance mentioned another possible technique – RDI®. We were at our wits end and only attended the presentation out of desperation, however, we were quickly drawn to the idea. We questioned whether we could do it ourselves, but, with expert guidance, we implemented small changes in our routine. The changes in our son were amazing! Within three months he began doing things he he’d never done before. I remember the first time his blue eyes looked straight at me as I was talking to him… eye contact for the first time! I forgot what I was saying!!
Over the last few years using RDI, I feel like I’ve been able to get to know my son in a real way. He can communicate his feelings, play with friends, snuggle up, understand how we are feeling by looking at our faces, connect to us as a family and he continues to grow with our step-by-step support. When I ask our son how he feels about RDI®, he says that it gives him his privacy. It’s still a challenge, but we now live a life of hope and joy. RDI® has been such a blessing!