Thank You For RDI! by Dr LorRainne Jones
RDI Certified Consultant, DR LorRainne Jones
I
have a little RDI guy who was diagnosed with PDD at about age 2. When
he was 18 months old, I got a call from his dad...his son had no words,
poor eye contact, limited play skills, liked to walk around looking at
the edges of window sills and bookcases, liked to watch toys drop, did
not respond to his name, did not appear to understand any language,
etc. I asked him to bring the little guy over for a screening the next
day..for me it was just a confirmation...Therapy started the next
week...
He was nonverbal and, using the program I describe in my book, we got his spoken language and referencing going first. Then we addressed acquisition of early cognitive skills. We worked on acquisition of receptive language as needed. By starting with expressive language first, we can teach both at the same time. Then, we referred for a diagnosis. "PDD", the doctor said. Considering where he had been, I was happy with that.
About six months into treatment, he started OT. A short while after that, we started RDI. About 6 months later, he started two mornings a week at an inclusive preschool. It was not good. "Not ready yet", I told them. Rather, time spent with neurotypical children would be less formal, a gymboree class here and there. The neighborhood playground worked well, too The primary focus had to be RDI . "We will get him there", I told them. The parents got it and did what they needed to do.
Fast forward to two weeks ago. He started in a regular kindergarten classroom and is thriving. He gets a great behavior-green light report everyday. He is popular and has lots of friends. The teacher mentioned that she wanted to refer him for testing for the gifted education program. She wanted to make sure that he did not get bored. She explained to the parents that it was important to get these gifted kids identified as early as possible so they would thrive. She hinted that gifted kids have educational needs that differ from typical children. Thanks to RDI, and other timely interventions, he is going to get a very special "special education".
Thank you, again, for RDI!!!!
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LorRainne Jones, M.A., CCC-SLP, Ph.D., BCBA
Dr. Jones is a licensed speech- language pathologist with over 30
years experience. She also has a Ph.D. in Education from the
University of Michigan. Dr. Jones works with children with autism,
PDD, and Asperger syndrome. Her area of expertise is teaching speech to
non verbal children with Autism. She has been an RDI Certified
Consultant for over five years. www.kidprotherapy.com
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This book provides therapists and parents with a way to assess children not only in language functioning, but also other areas of development including sensory processing, motor development, and social emotional development.
The chapter entitled," Understanding Challenging Behavior", offers parents and therapists strategies to determine the function of challenging behaviors and offers ideas for teaching more socially acceptable replacement behaviors. The final chapter, "Language for a Life and a Lifetime" challenges clinicians to make sure that the language they teach is the language that will make a dramatic difference in children's lives today and in the years to come.
Click here to request a copy
The Source for Expressive Language Delay
This book provides therapists and parents with a way to assess children not only in language functioning, but also other areas of development including sensory processing, motor development, and social emotional development.
The chapter entitled," Understanding Challenging Behavior", offers parents and therapists strategies to determine the function of challenging behaviors and offers ideas for teaching more socially acceptable replacement behaviors. The final chapter, "Language for a Life and a Lifetime" challenges clinicians to make sure that the language they teach is the language that will make a dramatic difference in children's lives today and in the years to come.
Click here to request a copy