The Technical Details About RDI

RDI® stands for Relationship Development Intervention and was developed by renowned clinical psychologists Dr. Steven Gutstein and Dr. Rachelle Sheely and their team of consultants at the Connections Center in Houston Texas. Based on the latest in scientific research on autism and child developmental psychology, they developed the RDI Program, focusing on providing people with disabilities, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, with the potential to attain a true quality of life by addressing key underlying neurological deficits and the resulting debilitating symptoms.

The RDI Program coaches parents and primary care-givers how to break down and then gradually rebuild complex dynamic processes by carefully and systematically orchestrating the presentation of dynamic intelligence objectives within day to day interactions embedded in daily routines and activities thus building memories of competence and fulfillment and increasing motivation to engage in our complex world. By changing neurological pathways, children with ASD can learn to become flexible thinkers and creative problem solvers who are curious about their world and enjoy sharing it with others, who enjoy the challenges of change and who desire to expand their world.

The RDI Program provides a path to learning friendship, empathy, and a love of sharing their world and experiences with others.

The RDI Program can easily be implemented seamlessly into regular, day-to-day activities. It is a precise method with measurable results that begins at the edge of each person’s capability and then carefully, but continually, challenges them to grow. New findings from researchers like Peter Hobson and Nancy Minshew have made this third generation of autism treatment possible. The RDI Program is already bringing change to thousands of families worldwide and we will continue to use the latest research on the brain, autism and developmental psychology to:

  1. Design a dynamically evolving, comprehensive program with the potential to remediate the core deficits of ASDs and provide the majority of people with ASD a true quality of life.
  2. Provide parents with the tools so that they can give their children opportunities for success.
  3. Develop the ability for families to independently carry on the process.
  4. Increase the child’s motivation to accept challenges and master new, more complex environments.
  5. Help children develop the internalized ability to succeed in complex dynamic systems which require continuous information processing, feedback and adjustments.
  6. Develop the ability for children to independently discover new ways of engaging with their world.

© 2006, Connections Center, www.rdiconnect.com