Guest Author: Sharon Bradbrook-Armit, Parent and RDI® Program Certified Consultant. This week Sharon Bradbrook-Armit shares her family's story; from the diagnosis of her daughter to her decision to become an RDI Consultant.

I’m a Mum of a teenage daughter and back at the beginning of 2004 came across the Relationship Development Intervention Program (RDI®). At that time I would have described my daughter as: being totally prompt dependent, although being able to talk she didn’t communicate or see the need to do so, lots of self-stimulatory behaviour, cocooned in her own world. As a family we flew out to the US so that we could attend one of Dr. Gutstein’s 4-Day Parent Workshops and then meet up with our potential RDI® Consultant.

After the second day of the Parent Workshop we started to implement some of the RDI strategies, mainly changing our communication style and were stunned at how very small changes could have such a positive impact. Simply by using Declarative statements (“I love the colour of that’, ‘I’d like to go to...” etc.) and not using Imperative statements (“Do you like that colour?”, “Where should we go?” etc.) the pressure was taken off her to respond in a certain way and she actually began to converse.

Our lives as a family have changed dramatically. My daughter will come in from school and talk about her day, she will ask about my day out of genuine curiosity, we converse, we interact, she chooses to be with us and join in with things that the rest of the family are doing.

We are on the road to remediation of her autism.

*Click here to watch the video of the detailed version of their incredible story.*

If the video seems to stop and start, wait until the video has completely loaded before watching it.

That was the beginning of my personal RDI® journey, and my quest to help make RDI® an intervention that is known about and taken seriously in the UK. In February 2005 I presented a ‘Parent’s Viewpoint’ at a conference in Reading and applied to Dr. Sheely at the Connection Center to enter into the RDI® Certification process, so that I could help other families to achieve and benefit in the same manner as my own family. I have now completed the Certification process and am currently working with families in the UK.

To learn more about Sharon's work as an RDI Consultant with her families, click to read her article "The RDI Payoffs" (reprinted with permission) that originally appeared in Issue 27 of The Autism File. To purchase back issues of this magazine or become a subscriber, please visit their website, www.autismfile.com.

To contact Sharon....

Sharon Bradbrook-Armit

*Editor's Note: I am so appreciative that Chris and Sharon were willing to create this home video for us. They did a fantastic job of sharing their personal story in such an authentic way while speaking only to a video camera. Thank you so much!