Success stories, comments and what parents are saying about their programmes and their journey so far

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Indu from India (June 2011)

We are in stage 3 now. Looking back, we have really pieced so many small skills together to get my son to a stage where he is now. Before RDI, I have tried biomedical, Occupational Therapy and other therapies but not with much progress. The imbalance of skills, uncontrollable temper tantrums, and his behavior was a major block in achieving anything with him.

 
With well laid out stages and objectives, RDI has definitely given me hope, that he will be able to handle himself well over a period, as with every stage I keep noticing good changes in him.
Elisa Ferriggi has been more than a consultant, she has been a real good friend and guide to whom I have turned to several times in the past.
 
 
 

Lin from Nottingham (June 2011)

I was attracted to RDI primarily because it makes so much sense to want to try to get to grips with the core deficits of Autism. It is very different from other interventions which try to manage and compensate for the 'symptoms'. I also like the fact that it is evidence based and progress is assessed throughout the programme. In our case, our child has lots of strengths and on the surface copes well enough. However, I was always aware that there were crucial parts of his development missing and feared that the effort that he has to put in to get through the day might lead to him having mental health issues further down the line. As a teacher, I see children similar to my son who struggle in school and get to a point when they can't cope and end up in crisis.

Since starting RDI, we are much happier as a family. Our son is calmer and likes spending time with us, even though he is now a teenager.  We feel that we are going in the right direction and are helping him to be a happy and healthy adult. Working with our consultant, Elisa Ferriggi has been enormously helpful. I think that she has been very patient and encouraging when we have been slow to get the hang of things. I think that we are very lucky to have found out about RDI and we look forward to the next few years, seeing our child grow and worrying less about his future.

 

Jane Burrows from Poole (2011)

 

(March 2011)

Dominic  is our 8 year old son with ASD. We also have Max who is 11 who is as they say neuro typical. We have been involved in the RDI program since last June and we're currently working on co regulation. Thinking  about  the past 7 months I can see such big differences in Dominic from when we started and the emphasis on the parent communication work makes real sense now as this was what gave us the ability to change our own communication styles and get the dynamic ball rolling. At the  beginning  I remember wanting to jump straight in to the child stages and get busy sorting Dominic out but of course we had to sort ourselves out first! Looking at the early footage I see such a huge change in how we used language and communication then compared  to how we use it now and the change has benefited Dominic but it's also been good for Max and us too.

 Dominic now does things that he never really did before; his own communication is getting better and we see a real enjoyment in it for him which wasn't really there before. He always enjoyed rough and tumble type activities but it always had to be on his terms and turn taking wasn't something he could cope with. Now he loves to play board games, WII sports, hide and seek, all kinds of games that involve  interaction with others. He also likes to just chat about things that happen and its real experience sharing now, not just a means of getting what he wants.  Friends  who see him now always comment on it which is such a boost for us.

 We've been working on the co regulation since November and it has been the hardest objective so far without a doubt. Initially it seemed a huge leap forward from what we had done previously and it could be a real uphill struggle to get him to notice what we were doing and to get a response. It has at times been quite difficult to keep focused and motivated but it has got a lot easier as the weeks have gone on and I now see a big change in him and I'm beginning to see the start of his ability to co ordinate, even though we haven't started working on that yet. The other day I could hear both boys upstairs and I heard Max start to sing a song. A year ago Dominic would have had a tantrum at that. This time he joined in. A wonderful moment.

 

Jillian Allan from Newcastle (April 2011)

Darma and Veeru Patil from Wales (March, 2011)



Petra Rovere, Slovenia (May, 2011)

We are dealing with Autism for 4 years now. At first, when Patrik Ian was a year and half, we didn't recognise that he is slipping away. When we did, no one took us seriously that something is wrong. Without observations from my sisters and without guts of telling me their suspicions... As that was the first time that I've heard about this condition of course I reacted as a 'mama bear' - there is nothing really wrong with my son - without internet, we wouldn't get anywhere.

It took almost a year to get all the appointments with the doctors, psychologist, speech pathologist and all other... and finally when Patrik Ian was age 3, we got the confirmation of the diagnose which we knew from the start. 

As there was no therapy in our country, which could we get from our public health care or non-public health care, we had to go out of our borders. Of course nothing was covered from our health care insurance policy.

We tried almost everything:

 First we tried the DAN protocol. As Patrik Ian was diagnosed with Allergy on cow's milk at his age of one month and a half, the only thing we had to do is to put him also on a gluten-free diet. He was on casein-free diet almost from his birth.

Only after 4 months we recognised the difference. He started to be, to live with us again. In last months, before we started with the gluten-free diet, he was unable to reach. There were only two things; one of them was his favourite cartoon, the second one was one song 'Five little ducks', which he loves to listen it now too.

Well, although we did everything what we supposed to do according to DAN protocol - we also contacted doctor in Australia, which whom we were cooperated for three years (unfortunately he is deceased now), we could see that the first progress which was seen almost immediately, stopped. No better laboratory tests, although doing everything, what we were told.

 We knew that diets and food additives were not enough. Slowly we tried to find some other therapies, which would be more than food additives and diets. With a lot of effort we got from our public health care a speech pathologist and special educator in one, which at first taught us ABA. This therapy showed some promise, there was some progress, but we didn't like it. We both (my husband and I) thought as we are training a dog.

 We started to do Handle - which we are still doing because we think that it could be supportive to other therapies we do.

 Than from other mother we are in touch, we learned about 'Son-Rise', we read about it on internet. I've bought the book, read it, was enthusiastic about it, but unfortunately we were unable to go with it. It was not possible for us, where we are living, for me to stay home, and work with Patrik Ian for 12 hours per day, completely forget for quite some weeks about our daughter and my husband. There was no way, we could do that.

 So, at the same time, we read about Son-Rise, we got some information about RDI - from Patrik Ian speech pathologist. So we looked again on internet, read all about it and somehow we decided to contact Mrs. Elisa Ferriggi. She was nice to explain us everything, to answer on all our questions, to help us out, what we didn't understand or sure about.

We agreed to visit her in her home last July. We stayed for two days. She took video clips of Patrik Ian's behaviour; she wanted to see what level Patrik Ian was in.

During the night we run through our family finances. Will we be able to finance it? Again this therapy is something our public health care doesn't recognise it as confirmed therapy and our health insurance cover doesn't cover it, again all the costs would be on our shoulders.

Next day she gave us a complete analysis about what she has seen in videos, what she has seen when she meet Patrik Ian. After that, she explained us again what RDI therapy is and how it works. This was the first therapy we read about, heard about, that was not focused only on child with autism - in our case on Patrik Ian, but is focused on the whole family. And this prevailed that we decided to sign in.

 So, we are living (not doing) RDI for almost a year now. Although the first half of the year was more focused on us than on Patrik Ian, we have seen the progress with Patrik Ian. Well, other members of our family which are not so much in contact with him as us, could tell you even more. Some of them could not believe the difference.

As he at the beginning showed no desire for social contacts with anyone except us, only some months later he showed love, he except people around him. His eye contact improved. He began to show us his feelings, happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger... He shows understanding of our feelings; he shows that he understands us completely, only that he chooses when to 'listen' us...

He goes to the regular kindergarten and is in regular class. He has some help - a student, which is there only for him, to help him - almost the only barrier he has is his lack of speech. Otherwise he is completely competent.

As next year he will have to go to school, we want him to go to regular school and from what we have seen until now, we are confident that RDI will help him, help us to achieve this goal.

So why is the RDI so great?

It's simply because helps families to get through life which they didn't expect or be prepared for.

Emma from Tonbridge (2009)

One of the biggest things I like about RDI is that it seems so logical to revisit the developmental stages of typically developing children and to try to help our autistic children to put these in place in the correct developmental order.

RDI gives you a deeper and clearer understanding of what your child's autism means and the steps you can take to help them overcome their difficulties. The RDI Learning System has a huge amount of useful information so you can educate yourself in the best way of helping your child.

We have noticed big changes in flexibility and resilience when things do not go exactly to plan. We have noticed much more language - both requests and commenting - so he is now motivated to communicate with us for communications sake and not just for his needs - lots of people have noticed this. We feel that this life will be ongoing and therefore we need to view RDI as a longterm way of living and learning. 

 

(November 2009)

We first become interested in RDI when we realised that, although Alex was at school, there was still a lot of time in the day that he was spending with us and that we at a loss as to what we could do with him and how best we could use this time to help him. We needed more guidance and this is where RDI fits the bill, as it places a crucial role with the parents.  Often parents feel they couldn't possibly know as much as professionals but what is great about RDI is that it encourages parents to become a guide to their child and to bring up your child in the way that they are able to learn. One of the main things is just making time to spend together which allows for opportunities for lots of little learning experiences throughout the day. Useful time spent together does not mean it is necessary to do a specific music class or gym activity class, but doing general daily tasks and activities all offer potential for the learning that so many children do automatically and which autistic children do not.

There is a huge amount of useful information on the web that, as long as you have access to a computer, you will be able to have invaluable information and guidance at your fingertips. The combination your consultant, of the RDIOS, the ability to load and critique your footage, and the webinars on the operating system give you so much useful information and feedback. Seeing the set objectives within each stage shows you the development that children will take and you can see where your child fits on this and what you will need to be working on and what you are aiming for in the next few months. Often something that you never thought would happen does eventually happen. It gives you a sense of achievement when your child manages to master a particular goal and gives you encouragement to carry on. Taking small steps all in the right direction will add up to moving your child on quite a lot over the months and years. I think it is important to envisage RDI as a long term - almost life long - project as there is a lot of learning that needs to be done.

We have needed a great deal of patience and resilience over the last few years. Often the development is so slow that you hardly notice it. Other times they seem to pick things up very quickly. It is important to have realistic expectations and to make sure you keep your mental health in good shape as bringing up a child can at times seem overwhelming.  It can take a while to adapt your language and use more declarative language but it soon become a habit. Also you start to integrate many other RDI lifestyle habits in your daily life and is becomes natural. We are currently on Stage 1 and have seen some small but significant moves forward. His ability to communicate has really improved, which means he is more relaxed as he knows he can get us to understand what he wants to tell us. I think the main thing we have noticed recently is that he is now offering language to use - but just to comment and to share what he is thinking with us. This is a real leap forward for him and a wonderful change for us to hear him talk to us and have a mini conversation. 

I LOVE WEBINARS! Everyone learns in different ways and some people prefer reading, but I have found webinars to be invaluable. Whatever stage you are at with your child you will be able to choose an archived webinar to watch which is like your own personal tutorial. You see a consultant delivering a presentation, you can print off the slides and make your own notes, and you can see video clips so that you know what you are working towards. I have found that it really encourages me to work with my little boy as I feel I have a better idea of what I am aiming for.

We know we have a long way to go but we are keen to keep him progressing slowly but surely, but always in the meantime trying to enjoy the wonderful, but different, little boy that he is.

 

 

 

Lucinda Muschialli from East Sussex (2009)

Since Leo has started the RDI program a year ago we have seen a huge improvement in socialisation, communication and awareness. He is much more willing to communicate with us now and if he is enjoying something he will take us by the hand to show us, genuine experience-sharing communication. By breaking down the development of typical communication into lots of tiny stages we are able to 're-teach' Leo. We used Leo's love of numbers and letters as a bit of a 'way in' for him, for example we taught him to play catch by spelling words. Leo finds the activities really enjoyable and it is much easier to engage him now.

Having Elisa as a consultant is great as she can advise on ways to frame activities for Leo and support when we are stuck on an objective. Her feedback from the video footage is so useful and really helps us to know where and how we could make and activity more successful. The objectives that Leo has mastered have led to real improvements in his awareness of his environment. He has just had his first day at school and loved it, he went in so happily and interacted brilliantly with the teachers, and I am positive that this wouldn't have been nearly as successful if we hadn't done RDI.

The other advantage of RDI is that it is not overly time consuming. We have four boys so are so busy! But we have never felt that the other children felt excluded from RDI - in fact they often wanted to do the activities as well! RDI has given us such an in-depth understanding of autism and how we can help, and so many people have commented about what great progress Leo is making.

 

(May, 2011)


RDI has helped the whole family to connect with Leo. Where beforehand he would often be found doing his own thing or 'in his own world', now it is much easier to draw him out and include him in our games and activities. We give him roles to do in the house now, so he can help me cook, clean and put things away and these give great opportunities for communication, especially developing non-verbal communication like referencing, gestures and facial expression. Leo really enjoys these and it gives him a great sense of pride when he does it well. Leo has developed so much since starting the RDI programme and he is more able to cope with the world due to what we have learnt together through RDI

 

 

Anonymous (2009)

 

Our activities are increasingly those based on singing, music, walking, shopping, etc. It is a revelation to see that our child can actually help change the wheel when we had a puncture, stay on task and 'with us' for long enough to help hang out washing, pick apples as a 'guided partner' help with sorting out cupboards and things out at home. There is less resistance to doing undesired activities. Increase in language, being in synch with us and others, more amenable to ideas, greater flexibility, more give and take, less on a fixed agenda.

 

The clinching point for us was its analytical, research-based approach, the science behind it, if you will. The fact that the psychological development of the child has been analysed so as to pinpoint the stages of development typical children go through but on which ASD children miss out and how to work through those missed opportunities with them. I think Dr Gutstein's assertion is also spot on: the dynamic, flexible thinking which our children lack is the main barrier to their passport to an independent future. Again, the science behind RDI and the fact that even children with great difficulties are able to increase their eye contact, their relating to people, understanding gestures and non-verbal communication. We know that although our child is bright and has lots of skills he has huge deficits in these areas and RDI is helping to adress that.

 

Our expectations are being met and exceeded in some areas. There is overspill from RDI into different areas of our child's life, especially in relating to others outside the family. We see our child making more of an effort to become independent, to want to repair relationships and breakdowns in communication. He wants to feel like more of an equal partner, contributing to the relationship. The support and understanding from our consultant is second to none; she is able to demonstrate clearly what you are trying to aim for and ways around potential problems. She shows flexibility and takes on board your own ideas and thoughts. This, combined with the RDI Learning System means you always have a backstop if you get stuck!

 

I think it is demanding and hard work and parents have to be aware of this but I think the key advantages it has over other methods are:

 

1 Its structured approach- tracing the relationship and communication skills and patterns through which typical children learn.

 

2 Its basis of flexible thinking as opposed to instructional type learning, focusing more on your child learning from you as a guide and being in synch with you.

3 Its focus on learning how to cope in a dynamic, ever-changing environment- these are key skills anyone needs to cope with in our rapidly-changing world, whether they be constrained by a disability or not.

 

 

 

 

Paul Trotman (2009)

 

Family maths has changed completely.  We spend so much more time together. We can't wait to spend time with the children doing different things and sharing new experiences. Many people from teachers to relatives have noticed how much more independent he is.  He is a proper thinker now.  He no longer just does what we ask him to do, he thinks about better ways to do it, or short cuts, or alternatives.  He thinks about everything he does - today we got ready to goto the park and he brought a jumper with him just in case it got cold later on.

We just thought he was in a good place for something new - to develop himself as a thinker.  We are so glad we did. We always want to look for things we think will help him learn and keep moving in a good direction.  RDI really appealed to us because it seemed to focus on the ability to socialise and develop thinking skills.  We felt these were areas we needed help with. So far, we are really pleased.  RDI feels right to us and for him. 

He keeps doing things now that he hasn't been taught to do, but that he has worked out for himself.  He is trusting his own thought processes instead of relying on instruction from others, or pre-learned skills and processes.

The support has been excellent, the contact is frequent and always there when we are stuck with something or ready to move on with a new objective. After doing many different kinds of therapy and techniques etc.. we feel that we finally have a long-term plan in place for Luke which involves the whole family, is extremely natural, is nurturing rather than coersive, gentle yet focussed, and above all 'feels right' for Luke.

 

David and Kathryn (2009)

Through the RDI programme we have gained a fascinating insight into the process of learning and the importance of the structure of interaction.  As we have applied the principles it has become apparent how many seemingly everyday activities present opportunities for learning interaction.

We frequently see in Matthew real glimpses of engagement, and often great enjoyment, during periods of interaction; especially when we challenge him for more involvement.  We have seen Matthew do things since starting RDI that we have not seen him do before and give us great encouragement to continue seeking interaction opportunities.

Elisa has provided great support in introducing the concepts of RDI as well as providing a general ear to some of the problems associated with bringing up a child with Autism.

 

Steven, Edmonton (May, 2011)

Elisa, has been working with our daughter for nearly three years and has made a huge difference to her life chances. Prior to enlisting Elisa to work with our family on the RDI programme, our daughter was very withdrawn, would get very emotional and frustrated and was unable to communicate her need at all.  She also found it difficult to relate to my wife and I and her younger brother, in any real meaningful way. Nearly three years on her RDI journey and things look much brighter and we are hopeful that one day she will become an independent, dynamic and socially engaged member of society. Her improvements so far, have been many. She now for the very first time has begun to communicate her needs and she interacts with well with her brother. She is a lot more settled socially and we can now take her out to restaurants, on outings and to family gatherings. She responds well to the programme and continues to make majors improvements. We truly are grateful to Elisa for her hard work, support and guidance.  RDI for us has been a Godsend and we would recommend this programme to all parents, who have children on the Autistic Spectrum, without hesitation.