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RDI Certified Consultant, Hailin Tchou |
The following story is heartening and adds to my joy as an RDI consultant. It may not be extraordinary to most parents. However, to parents who have children on the Autism spectrum, these are stories are of breakthroughs, of hope, of joy and of strength.
Three years ago.....I need to control
C was 4 years old at the time of his first RDA1. He was in control of the situation most of the time. In times of heightened anxiety, C would resort to random verbalization and leaving his partner (mom) and stray to another part of the room. Mom became increasingly anxious to keep C working with her. She increased direct instructions. Co-regulatory pattern was barely developed during the session. It had clearly become a“who controls whom?” situation. In the brief moments that C was able to be guided, co-regulation was disrupted by C's heightened anxiety and the need for control.
Now.....You cannot hide a secret from me
During the last live session with C’s mom, I was delighted to hear that C has changed in the following ways. C is now a seven-year-old boy. He is in 2nd grade and has gotten used to taking the school bus. Mom received a notice that C was going to take a different bus to school staring the 3rd week of the new school year. On the day of the change, the bus matron wanted to make sure that mom had prepared C for the change before she helped him on the new school bus. She was using an indirect way of talking to mom for fear that C might understand the content of the conversation before he was prepared for the change. She glanced towards C to inquire if mom had told him. C immediately chimed in saying, “I am going on a new school bus today.”
For C to be able to respond in this way, he was actively aware of his environment. He was interested in the conversation between his mom and the bus matron. He understood the nonverbal communication-the shifting of the matron’s eye gaze. He was also willing to accept and adapt to the change. C has made great stride in understanding and accepting changes.
People with ASD have great difficulties understanding nonverbal communication. C was able to recognize and understand the bus matron’s gaze shifting. He is not fearful of changes in his environment. C feels competent about his ability to adapt to these changes.
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Hailin
Tchou, M.S. CCC-SLP is a licensed bilingual (Chinese) speech-language
pathologist and an RDI® Consultant.
She practices in Brooklyn, New York.Email Hailin here.