RDI® remains a groundbreaking approach in a field that often feels stuck. Unlike traditional models, RDI® prioritizes dynamic intelligence: the ability to adapt, problem-solve, and build meaningful relationships.
In this episode of Autism, A New Perspective, Kat Lee speaks with Dr. Rachelle Sheely, President of RDIconnect® about the broad-reaching benefits of RDI®.
In this episode of Autism: A New Perspective, Kat Lee and Dr. Sheely discuss the history of RDI® Consultants and how they help parents, families and children.
In some ways, there have been dramatic changes in the way we view and treat autism in the 20+ years since the RDI® Program launched. For one, more people are seeing autism like we do here at RDI®, as simply a different way of thinking and being. We know that autism can mean a lot of challenges, but challenges can be overcome.
In this episode of Autism: A New Perspective, host Katherine Lee brings in a former RDI® student who is now in her 30s. Alysia Elliot and her mom Sharon Sargeant talk about Alysia’s life with autism, before RDI® and how starting an RDI® program changed everything.
The beginnings of the Relationship Development Intervention (RDI®) program happened around 30 years ago, when Dr. Steven Gutstein and Dr. Rachelle Sheely began to ask some questions about autism, like “Why do intelligent, capable adults on the spectrum struggle to maintain independence? What is it about autism that sets people up to not be independent?”
RDI® can help all families, and your child can benefit from starting RDI® at any age, but the program is designed to promote growth, learning, development, and the ability to have relationships and perform necessary life skills, and, eventually, independence in adulthood. Your child can benefit from RDI® into their teen years and into young adulthood, if they are not yet ready for adulthood.
As parents, we can use RDI® concepts to introduce our children to more variables and increasingly dynamic situations, when they are ready. Children with autism are more than capable of achieving growth, development, and quality of life, just like neurotypical children, but they must be given the chance – and they must be able to move at their own pace.
In this episode of “Autism: A New Perspective,” Dr. Sheely talks about the things that might trigger a state of crisis again for some parents, how to know if you’re in a crisis state, and what you can do to move yourself out of it.
