For many parents, the word “assessment” brings up hard memories. Long reports that list everything your child cannot do. Scores that seem to define your child’s future. Professionals who study your child while you sit in the hallway and wait.
In this episode of Autism: A New Perspective, Kat Lee talks with Claudia Andreessen, Professional Director at RDIconnect® and trainer of RDI® consultants, about a very different kind of assessment: the Relationship Development Assessment (RDA).
The RDA was designed from the ground up to honor the child, the parent, and the relationship between them. Instead of asking “What is wrong?” or “How far behind is my child?”, the RDA begins with a different assumption: every child, teen, and adult has the potential for growth. Our task is to discover where that growth edge is and how to support it.
What makes the RDA different?
Most traditional assessments focus on isolated skills and standardized scores. Parents are used to sending their child into a room, waiting outside, and then receiving numbers that are compared to a norm. Claudia explains that the RDA takes a different view.
The “A” in RDA stands for assessment, but what we are really looking at is the guiding relationship between parent and child. Rather than focusing only on the child or only on the parent, the RDA observes how they come together. How do they communicate? How does the child respond to the parent’s style? What happens when there is a disruption or “breakdown” in the interaction, and how does the parent guide through it?
This is what we mean by a dynamic assessment. The RDA is not interested in a fixed score. It is interested in the student’s edge of competence and how that edge shifts as we tailor support. Because experience changes over time, the assessment itself is dynamic. It helps us find a starting point, not an endpoint.
A play-based, experience-focused process
Parents often ask what the RDA will look like. Claudia describes it as structured play. Parents are not quizzed on their knowledge and children are not drilled on right answers. Instead, the consultant sets up simple, everyday activities such as:
- Passing a ball
- Doing a puzzle together
- Building a paper house
These activities become the backdrop for what really matters: the interaction. During these moments of shared activity, the consultant is observing things like:
- How the child and parent co-regulate
- How they share attention
- The emotional connection between them
- How communication flows back and forth
- How both handle small breakdowns or shifts in the activity
In RDA 1, the focus is on seeing the guiding relationship as it naturally appears. In RDA 2, the consultant begins to test and personalize support. The goal is to discover what helps this specific student feel more competent and connected. The question is not simply “Can they complete the puzzle?” but “Are they able to connect with me while we work on the puzzle together?”
Parents are partners, not subjects
Many parents feel nervous when they hear that they will be part of an assessment. After years of being judged and evaluated, it is natural to worry about being watched.
Claudia is clear that the RDA is not about judging parents. The consultant is not tallying what a parent cannot do. Instead, they are looking at how the parent and child construct their interaction together. The parent is needed in the room because the heart of the RDA is the relationship, and the relationship cannot be seen without both partners present.
The RDA takes time to understand both the child and the parent, and to personalize support for each. It is not a rushed process, and it is never a cookie cutter. Two families may receive the same activities, but their RDA will look completely different because their relationship and their needs are unique.
A foundation for truly individualized RDI® work
As Kat and Claudia reflect, the RDA is a core foundation of the RDI® program. It ensures that any work that follows is grounded in a real understanding of the child, the parent, and their guiding relationship. It allows consultants to design experience-based guidance that fits this family, in this season, with this child.
Whether your child is two, thirty-two, or forty-two, the assumption remains the same: growth is possible. The RDA is one of the tools that helps us see where to begin.
Full Transcript:
Kat Lee: Welcome back to Autism, A New Perspective, the podcast show where we help you understand what is going on in the mind of your child. And we always encourage you that growth for your child is possible. I’m Kat Lee, and in this week’s podcast, I visited with Claudia Andreessen, the professional director at RDI Connect, and also the trainer of her consultants in training in the RDA, the Relationship Development Assessment, a unique tool that helps families, parents, and their children. Let’s listen in.
Claudia, I am so excited to talk to you about the RDA, the Relationship Development Assessment. And it sounds funny to say I’m excited about talking about an assessment.
So to let everybody know, Claudia and I are both parents. Our sons are grown now, but we can tell you that we went through assessments, and that became a bad word. So if that’s a feeling that you get, and you’re a parent, we get it.
But I have to tell you, our process is so different, and it takes into account the individual child or adult, and it also takes into consideration the parents. So Claudia teaches our new consultants about the assessment. She does a multi-week course where they learn how to give it.
So nothing better, Claudia, than you to come talk to us about this. I think that where I want to start is just telling parents that this assessment is as much about helping them as it is their child.
Claudia Andreesson: Yes. Thank you, Kat. That was a wonderful introduction.
And as I hear you saying that our assessment, the Relationship Development Assessment, has a little difference than what we parents think when we hear the word assessment or evaluation. Usually, when we hear that word, we connect with diagnostic, or they are going to look at what my child cannot do, and this is a little different. What we do with the RDA, the A goes for assessment, we look at the guiding relationship, and that is a totally different point of view.
It’s not really looking at the child or the student, or it’s not really looking at the parent only, but it’s looking at the guiding relationship between parent and student, and that’s a totally different ballpark than only the child. The other component that is very exciting for me to share, and different than other assessments, is that we have what we call a dynamic assessment. And the word dynamic means we are already with the assumption that the student is capable for growth and development.
We start with that assumption. We’re not very interested in the scores of a normative IQ or standardizing testing, which is something that we as parents are more familiar with, but for the RDA, we want to find a starting point rather than just a score on a test. We want to know where and how we’re going to start our program, and so it’s very important to look at what we call the edge of competence of the student, and that’s what makes this dynamic, because what we mean with edge of competence is we’re constantly assessing someone’s experience, and that changes, so the assessment changes, so it’s dynamic because what we’re interested in or our approach is about guiding that experience, that what the student is experiencing. It is definitely experience-based guiding, but really, I think one of the biggest differences when we think about this is not necessarily instructional or memorization or trials or something like that, but we’re going to provide experiences tailored to that student.
We’re going to provide opportunities for very small pieces of growth. That’s what we’re looking for. That’s what we’re directing our attention, and that’s what we show the guides the parents to do, so our assessment, the RDA, is based on assessing the learning experiences.
That’s what we want.
Kat Lee: I love that you started out telling us those high expectations that we have of our children, that we’re not looking at what they can’t do or they can’t do this or they can’t do that. We are looking at what they have the potential for growth, and what I really liked is that you said we assume, we know they have the potential for growth. We don’t go in wondering, do they have the potential for growth?
We know that. Claudia, that’s such a beautiful thing.
Claudia Andreesson: Well, I think that’s one of the foundations or course of RDI. We, like you said, we already know that our student, child, or adult has that potential for growth, so the RDA, what it does is it tries to get a snapshot of that intuitive, guided relationship that shows that potential, so it’s not a full evaluation of every area. It’s specifically a snapshot of the guided relationship between parent and child.
Kat Lee: One of the things I was thinking when you were talking is it’s so important for parents, when they’re deciding if they want to take part in this process, to know that when we do this, we’re not judging them as a person. We’re not looking at what they’re not doing. That is not what it is about.
Can you explain that a little bit? Because I think as a parent, I would understand why someone might feel that. What do you mean I’m going to be studied?
Claudia Andreesson: I’m going to be awesome.
Kat Lee: Heaven knows we’ve all been judged enough, so we’re full of that. Can you explain a little bit about that? Because I think it’s so important just to emphasize that point.
Right.
Claudia Andreesson: Well, and I think what you were referring to is what we called this guiding relationship, right, where it’s not about the guide, which is the parent, and it’s not only about the child, which is the student, but it’s about the relationship between both of them. What both of them construct is what we’re interested in. So it’s not like we’re observing only the parent or the guide.
We’re observing what is going on during their interaction. And so, for example, as they interact, what style of communication do they have? How does the child respond to that style of communication?
Is there any breakdowns? And by breakdowns, probably I mean any moments where the child goes away or moves. And how does the guide handle those moments?
How is the dynamic with the breakdowns? And how is the emotional connection between both of them? Those kind of things, they don’t have to, they don’t depend 100% about the guide.
It’s the interaction between them two, what we are observing. So, yes, we want to know how capable the child is at this point. Like, what is his edge of competence as a learner?
You know, we were talking about experiences as he is learning. Where is and how is he doing that? So there are certain things we look at, you know, his communication, his attention, his ability to regulate with the guide, and, you know, so on, so forth, very specific things.
But most important is the interaction between them two. So just like we look at what the child is capable, we’re also looking at how the parent set that up for that, for the child. How the guide is using some of the intuitive tools that we parents have to interact with their child.
And I think that, I don’t know if that exactly answers your question, but what I’m referring again is the interaction between them two, not only observing the parent. Now, there is a difference, though. Having said that, we as parents are used to only sending the child to the evaluation, and we stay out.
So the difference in here is that the guide, the parent, is part of the evaluation. And that’s sometimes a big difference for parents. They’re not used to being part of the assessment.
And why are they part of them? Because, again, we’re observing the relationship, the interaction that is happening between parent and child. So we need those two parts.
We need the guide, and then we need the student. But, yes, I probably will agree when you said that feels a little different because parents are not used to being observed. But I usually, when I start with a family, I usually talk to them about this.
So they feel at ease that I’m not really looking at what they cannot do.
Kat Lee: Exactly, exactly. I already know there’s things I can’t do for sure. That won’t be news to me, for myself.
But one thing I’m glad you brought up when you’re talking to a new family. And I even recently had the opportunity to do that. Well, a couple of times, actually.
And when I say, really, you’re just going to be playing with your child, but we’re just going to provide the activities that we want you to do, that is a relief. So that is what we have. And, again, another question I get is, well, if there are two or there are 32.
Absolutely, because that’s how this time is so beautifully constructed that age can kind of not totally disappear, but not be relevant when it comes to the relationship and what we are trying to do, which is also a beautiful thing. But I do think the word playing has a nice impact to be like, well, OK, I’m not going to be quizzed. I’m not going to be tested on my general knowledge of things.
So I think it goes to your point that it’s a relaxed, it’s relaxed playing with your child. We’re just guiding that to make sure that we are being able to see what we need to see.
Claudia Andreesson: And on that note, we have a structure for that. So, you know, the how, how do we observe this? Well, yes, it’s through playing.
So it’s actually, it’s actually true. We have, you know, a series of five, six activities that mom does with the student and dad does with the student. And through those very common activities, such as passing a ball, doing a puzzle, making a paper house together.
I mean, it’s very common activities that we ask them to do. So parents feel like, oh, OK, it’s not, it’s like you said, it feels more like playing. But what we’re really observing with those activities is not can they build the puzzle, but it’s what’s behind that.
It’s the interaction that is happening, which means is the child capable to co-regulate? Is the parent providing opportunities? Is the, you know, what, how is the style of communication?
How is the, how are they connecting emotionally? Like that’s our observation. So we just use these activities as a backdrop too.
But it helps the parents to know that there is a structure and there is activities that we use to observe. And that’s the first part. We have on the how a second part, which is also a very exciting part.
We call it RDA one and RDA two. And so the RDA two, our focus is now in testing some support, personalizing that support to the students, learning more about the obstacles and strengths of the student so we can tailor some support for him or her. And we also do this through games, right?
We set up a, well, maybe games is not the right word, but to play. We set up an activity that we can do together. And we are looking into what helps this student feels more competent.
Again, there’s a difference between can he make the puzzle versus is he able to connect with me? Is he able to communicate with me? So that’s what we call the guiding relationship.
Kat Lee: I’m glad you brought this up because as we’re coming to an end, I think what really stands out to me today, getting to visit with you, which thank you so much. It’s such an important topic to the work that we do with RDI. Is that individualization, it’s just the furthest thing from a cookie cutter program you could possibly have.
And I think one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you about the RDA today was because it’s such a foundation to ensure that it is individualized, that we are studying all the individual components of the family, the people, the heart. That’s what’s important about the work we do. And this foundation allows us to do that, I think.
Claudia Andreesson: I think so. I think the RDI consultant, which is trained to do this type of assessment, one of the major roles is to take time, take the time to understand that child, take the time to understand that parent and how they relate with each other and take the time to personalize some support for both of them. I think that’s a major role.
So yes, it cannot be rushed and it cannot be a cookie cutter. It is 100% personalized because it will look different from family to family. But we do have a structure to follow.
Kat Lee: Well, and through the years, and I’ve been a part for such a long time, and what a pleasure it is to have been through that with you. But the thing that strikes me the most is RDI goes to the heart of autism. It goes to the heart for the families.
It goes to the heart of the parents, the parents’ heart and to the child. Whether the child is two or 32 or 42, that’s not our issue because we know that every person can have growth in their lives. And thanks for joining us for Autism, A New Perspective, the podcast show where we help you understand what is going on in the mind of your child.
And we encourage you that growth for your child is possible. I’m Kat Lee. See you next time.
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