As an RDI® Consultant, I Empower Parents

This week´s guest blog post is from RDI® consultant Chyntia Poedjokerto

I have been in the Special Education field for years and came to know RDI® better when I became a parents coach for special needs parents.

I strongly believe that parents are the best therapists for their children and cannot be replaced by an expert.

A lot of parents don’t realize that they have power to help their own kids.

They often depend on different therapists and can end up being disappointed.

For example, Indonesia has a large turnover rate for therapists, which has a big impact on their children’s progress. Parents that can find a more stable therapist are more apt to see their child progress, but when it comes to handling their child alone, they have no clue how to help and the dependence of the therapist ends up tying them down.

There is no job that is as satisfying as becoming as RDI® consultant. – Chyntia Poedjokerto

With my background, I decided to empower parents by training to become an RDI® consultant. It is not easy to make parents understand that they can make a big difference in their children’s lives, because they often have a lot of doubt and feel vulnerable in the beginning of the program.

But as soon as they step in more, they become more comfortable and more confidant.

RDI® Has Helped Me in So Many Ways

• RDI helps me to be more structured in my coaching approach. The goals are clear and the program gives us the flexibility to pick and choose specific goals and targets, based on the individual need of each client.
• RDI has helped me personally to be a mindful professional guide, to slow down my pace and to adjust to my clients pace and needs.
• RDI helps me see opportunities where I can jump in and scaffold my own children for them to solve their own problems, rather than taking over and solving them myself.
• RDI also helps me to build better, and more trusting, relationships as we focus each activity on experience sharing, rather than dominating.

Related: Communicating with Experience Sharing

RDI® has great resources for professionals and parents: For parents, there are videos for self-education that help speed up their process and access to the online website and community.

Parents are then able to discuss with me the information they have gained from these two sources. For professionals, there is a steady stream of new articles coming in for the consultants to continuously update their knowledge.

Also, listening to the professionals from outside of Indonesia share, has given me new insight and become a useful resource for me when I am doing RDI®.

RDI® Helps Me to Bring Families Together

The greatest satisfaction I have is when I see the family relationship.

I have one dad who was trying desperately to engage with his only son as he wished he could – as he would with any other typical child.

At the end of the program, dad has become more confidant and sees hope, as his son has started to join into activity and experience collaboration between father and son.

It makes me thrilled seeing that moment.

Chyntia Poedjokerto B.Sc, Sp.Ed is a counselor and parents coach at Wellness Indonesia Counseling and Coaching Centre, specializing in providing guidance and assistance for parents whose children and teens are struggling in academics, behavior, and social skills. She has worked with numerous numbers of students with different learning needs for years in inclusive and special needs setting. Having a professional degree in Special Education and International certification in Relationship Development Intervention, she passionately equips the parents and advocates for the individual needs of special needs children, enabling them to achieve their maximum potential.