For some reason, the necessary MindGuiding Relationship that typically forms between parent and child during the first year of life doesn’t happen with autistic individuals–but with RDI®, it is possible to re-establish this relationship and nurture the growth mindset in your child.
In the general population, there’s a spectrum of people. Not everybody is going to be a college professor, and some people are going to have jobs as an assistant at Starbucks, and other people are going to have jobs as engineers. And so when I see someone who has a job as a greeter at Starbucks and has autism and has a girlfriend, I see that as an incredible success.
With the rate of employment among ASD adults low and rates of depression and suicide high, it’s clear that something isn’t working. RDI addresses this deficit.
My advice to RDI® parents is to make sure you and your consultant are asking, “How does everybody get on the same page and how do you come together as a family?” Not an autism family, but how do you come together as a family?
As children with autism grow up and inch closer to adulthood, there are sometimes lingering concerns–What if we didn’t do enough? What if we went in the wrong direction? What if independence isn’t possible?–but growth is possible into adulthood.
