Autism Aspergers: Solving the Relationship Puzzle--A New Developmental Program that Opens the Door to Lifelong Social and Emotional Growth

I'm actually revising this review having reread the book and learned more about RDI, as I feel I have a better idea of what the approach is really all about now. My new in-a-nutshell assessment: there are some things I really love about RDI, and some things that I don't care for. To be fair, I would say the same about most treatment approaches.To start with the positive: I think the thing that makes RDI special are what they now call the "Child Goals". There was a time when we thought teaching children with autism to be 'social' meant drilling them on how to say "Hi, my name is ____ what's your name how are you do you want to play", and other such catch phrases that would be fairly useless on a real life, chaotic playground full of it's own hidden codes and rules. The same for abstract thought, imagination, perspective taking. Some things don't translate well to the old "10 trials" format. So a big bravo to RDI for researching this topic and developing goals based around how these skills emerge in typical development.Now for what I see as the core problems in RDI. First, it is all set up around the philosophy that if children feel competent, they will participate (as opposed to ABA, which says if children feel MOTIVATED they will participate.) So if you are trying to do a social activity with an autistic child, and they keep running away trying to go play with light switches or Thomas Tank Engine, RDI says it's because they don't feel competent. Make the situation easier, help them more, slow down, and they will happily engage with you.Nothing wrong with this philosophy, but I'm here to say, I haven't found it to be true. There is actually emerging research to suggest that children with autism may be wired to be 'systemizers' and to pay attention to more mechanical/mathematical type information while lacking typical levels of motivation to attend to social information. If this is the case for a child, you can simplify all you want and the issue isn't that they don't understand, it's that they don't care and you're not creating a reason for them to care. You can be the best teacher in the world but it won't do much for a student who is tuning you out. Second, RDI says that most of the methods used in ABA teaching are Bad with a capital B, and encourage families to really avoid these methods. Again, the problem? A lot of those methods are extremely effective with autistic children, and taking them off the table really limits your teaching tools. This includes methods such as giving the child a direct instruction or asking them a direct question, prompting them to answer or respond, or teaching new material in a very repetitive, predictable way.I think the interesting argument that you get down to here is: when teaching an autistic child, how much should you accommodate a child's autism vs. how much you should try to change it? In my mind, using ABA type methods lean more toward accommodation - teaching in a way that is easier for an autistic child and more in line with their style of learning. RDI methods stress change - you teach more in the way you would expect a neurotypical child to learn and hope they will in turn adapt to this.What I have seen to happen, in my admittedly very limited observation, is that children who are closer to that neurotypical way of thinking do well with RDI, whereas children who are more classically autistic don't seem to get much out of RDI unless it's adapted for them. For the children who have some of those base skills already, RDI can be the push they need into becoming a dynamic thinker. For a child who doesn't attend well to social information, needs to have their interest/motivations incorporated to a large degree, and doesn't learn well outside of highly structured teaching situations, I almost wonder if it's akin to teaching a deaf child with nothing but verbal direction.So my advice? I like the ideas, I do. I would recommend this therapy for high-functioning children with fairly good language and some pre-existing social motivation. For more involved children, I would recommend it as an add-on to other types of therapy such as Floortime or Verbal Behavior, that are more focused on adapting to the child's way of thinking instead of waiting for them to adapt to yours.

This book describes the RDI program and how it helps young people and parents with children with autism.

The book was good, just did not have all the information I was hoping it did.It came on time, no problems

I would recommend this book to anyone who is serious about finding an effective therapy to help someone they love or care for who is on the Autism Spectrum. This book is a careful, thorough and technical description of a compassionate, well researched, and professionally run therapy which involves and empowers parents and carers in the process of helping those they care for to ultimately be able to build their owngenuine relationships. This is something which those on the Autism Spectrum find the most difficult of all!This therapy is not merely about learning good manners or socially appropriate behaviour - but about the lifetime skill of building emotionallyappropriate, fulfilling and genuine personal relationships.

If I'm reviewing this book, and just this book, then I give fairly high marks. The book gives some nice insight into the development of social interaction and how typical therapies aren't well equipped to address this. It's a bit vague as to how you would in fact remediate these deficits, but still a worthwhile read.I can't really review the book without reviewing the RDI program, however, and here I have some reservations. If you do buy this book with the intent of starting an RDI program, you may well be told the following:- ABA programs make children "more autistic", even though they appear to be getting better this is only a short term illusion, underneath it all they are being taught to think in a more black-and-white 'autistic' way. You may be told that you must stop your ABA program in order to work with a consultant. (Floortime is also considered bad news.)- Language fundamentals (i.e., basic vocabulary, understanding language, speaking in sentences) are not a core defecit of autism despite the fact that they are listed as part of the diagnostic criteria, and so they are not targeted. The child will 'get' this language by doing RDI, however, even though it's not specifically addressed.- Quality not quantity of treatment is important (I disagree - research seems to show that time IS important in therapy, and leading parents to believe that reducing time can be better for the child seems worrisome.)- Children don't need reinforcement to participate, or for you to use their natural interests. So long as they feel competent, they will participate in the activities you've set up. If this is not the case, it's typically blamed on a 'co-occurring disorder', (for example, bipolar disorder, ADD, or oppositional defiant disorder,) rather than giving consideration to the fact that the child isn't motivated or interested in social stimuli.I have concerns that parents are actually being told that they should go out and fire their ABA therapists when so much research exists to support these programs and there is virtually none behind RDI. Not to mention that RDI now includes mandatory parent training goals in the beginning, and these can take months to complete before you ever see a goal for your actual child. That's precious early intervention time lost, at a time when every second matters.My thought is that this program would be good for a high-functioning or Aspergers child who is beyond the more basic skills taught in ABA and early intervention programs. For that population I think it makes sense. For a child who needs to develop basic language and skills, however, be wary of some of the holes in this program.

Gutstein presents his RDI theory in this book. So much of what his theory involves makes incredible sense for anyone working with a person (people) with an asd spectrum disorder. This is the most insightful book on autism that I have ever read.

We are just starting RDI with a consultant and this book is clear and easy to understand.

This book moved me. I have gained so much insight on this subject by reading it. I am inspired to integrate what I've learned into my classroom. It is inspiring and touched me deeply.

I have looked over it and it looks good

Never ordered this. My daughter may have.

The steps are not easy for the layman