Monica van Schaik, BA

RDI® Certified Consultant, MSW Candidate

Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

Phone: 514-746-3959

Areas Serviced: Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Stratford, Ontario

Languages: English

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About Monica

Monica is passionate about helping neurodiverse individuals find their place in the world. She has been supporting people with a variety of thinking patterns and development pathways for the past 12 years, including autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, OCD, traumatic brain injuries, psychosis and Down’s syndrome. Her compassionate and creative approach to RDI consulting, educational support services, advocacy and accompaniment have helped the individuals she works with access greater autonomy, higher qualities of life and personal fulfillment.

Life has provided many opportunities for Monica to learn about disability in concrete ways. Her own experiences with dyslexia have taught her resilience and self-advocacy; her experience growing up with a brother with Down’s syndrome taught her playfulness and creative problem solving. She knows first-hand how important parents and siblings are to developing feelings of empowerment in neurodivergent children, and is sensitive to the difficulties and joys that parents and their children encounter.

In 2008, Monica encountered Relationship Development Intervention® (RDI) while working at a drama program for autistic children. This family-based model has provided Monica with an understanding of autism that aligns with her own observations and focuses on the family as a whole. In 2013 she travelled to the Connection Centre in Houston, Texas to study with RDI’s founders Dr. Gutstein and Dr. Sheely. Since then, she has been excited to bring her varied experiences to parents as a RDI consultant. She enjoys working as a team with parents to develop comprehensive programs that focus on practical tools and real world competence. Monica feels honored to celebrate the development of self, motivation and independence with each individual and family that she works with. Her goal is to bring every person she supports to a place where they can be active agents in their own lives.

Monica is a parent consultant, creative educator, neurodiversity advocate and public speaker. She currently offers RDI® consulting, educational services and community accessibility training in the Montreal area and Online. She warmly welcomes you to get in touch to inquire about her services.

*ADD- attention deficit disorder

*ADHD- attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

*OCD- obsessive compulsive disorder

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