This is part two of an article about working with clients at a distance, by RDI consultant and Australian Training Center Directer, Prue Watson. Read part one
Last week I shared that a bulk of my practice is working with families at a distance. The RDI Learning Community and technology such as Skype makes geography less of an issue. Obviously there are positives and negatives to this arrangement. This article focuses on what a distance relationship can mean for a family and a consultant
Distance for families
One veteran parent has this to say about these long distance
relationships:
"A long, long time ago, in the old days, when we submitted 30 minutes of video, posted it overseas and received written feedback by (email 3 weeks later!!), this was difficult for us. It probably would be for most families, especially in the beginning stages as it was harder to understand and 'get it', and we needed to remain motivated to see progress. But it was the best we could manage and so we invested in this - and we did see some progress....Then, we had a closer but still at-a-distance RDI Consultant where we did regular Skype sessions and some face-to-face visits, either travelling to the consultant's area or meeting half way to do RDAs or reviews. This was better since we could link the theory with the practice and could see how we could plan, evaluate and progress. We were more motivated as it was more hands on than before....Fewer face-to-face meetings mean we get very intensive time with our consultant. These sessions helped to cement the relationship and give our consultant a good look at the family including sibling/s couple relationship and whole family, over a few days doing various structured and unstructured things."
As I have chatted with many such families about their experiences, there were similar themes to their responses. The following is some feedback about the advantages of their distance relationship with their consultant:
Choosing a consultant
- It helped us access a consultant when there was no one locally.
- We can have the consultant of our choice, whoever works best for your family. Someone local may not be the best fit for your family.
- We don't have to change our service provider / consultant if we move locations - we like this continuity.
Skype appointments
- We use this for 'hands on' modeling and demos during our sessions and that did work for us!
- These are more convenient since we don't have to travel to get to see consultant.
- Appointments more easily scheduled to suit the time needs of the family and consultant.
- There are no hassles about driving or parking or allowing time to get there and I don't have to get dressed up or tidy house up to see consultant!
- I can do our scheduled skype sessions even when we are away as the session is portable.
- One partner can be in
another city and still do three-way session with the consultant
Face-to-face sessions
- Our sessions more focused often due to the limited time available
- We more focused on the topic or work assignment since there is limited time with consultant in sessions
- These visits are often for a longer time or can be a series of face to face contacts during a visit, so this helps our continuity and helps transfer thinking into practice
- One of the advantages is that we get to travel! We drove 9 hours from Tamworth to Brisbane and then 8 hours form Brisbane to Rockhampton to have our first RDA! The family had a holiday and we got to see more of the countryside.
- We value our consultant visits more
Other
- The availability of technology and internet is essential for our success...Our consultant is only a click or text away!
- It makes us as parents think and work harder to apply the process
- I am more motivated to make it work, as it is the only way I can do it
- I like the way it makes'us' more responsible for the work done rather relying on an outside person to provide this
Certainly there are disadvantages to working at a distance. While one person said they I couldn't think of any significant negatives, here are a few responses:
- The Consultant may not get the full picture of how we operate at home
- We may often want more hands on guidance but we have to work it out ourselves
- We have to manage variable internet - speed and availability - to make session work sometimes
- I think it is harder when child has a lot of issues sometimes
- The work tends to be more " wordy" and less experiential. Parents do not get the same hands-on modeling in skype sessions and sometimes we would like more of this. (but is possible to act out and do stuff over skype too - leads to greater creativity in consultant and more exaggerated non verbals and crazy hats!)
- It may be okay for parents down the track who are past readiness and understanding the process but I don't think it is so good for new parents still in crisis, new to concepts, difficulty understanding it if only given as intellectual/ talking style
Managing the distance working as a
consultant
Another aspect of an RDI Long distance relationship has come
from the consultant connection that has been established with a number of RDI
consultants in the different and often isolated regions across Australia. This
came about as a need to create a consortium to allow us to access the
government funding for helping children with autism package. To do this there
needed to be a multi disciplinary provider consortium that could be an approved
provider to this funding package for families.
To achieve that we formed a group called Connect and Relate for Autism CARFA. This was initially formed to allow us as RDI Consultants access to Australian government funding that came available for ASD children under 7 years of age. While we had different backgrounds we promoted ourselves as providing the RDI programme to families, and so CARFA was created.
So from Hobart, Melbourne, Mildura, Canberra, Brisbane and Rockhampton we all meet every two weeks to discuss, plan, share and support aspects of our business, our case work, our proposals and plans for the coming months / year, our professional and RDI development, our stories and our support. We do this online every two weeks and only meet face to face for our annual AGM and conference. We have established a strong and motivated group approach to supporting each other and distance is not an obstacle!
Things to consider
If you find yourself as a parent or consultant contemplating
a RDI Long Distance Relationship, here are some tips:
- See the values and potentials rather than the obstacles
- Be 'present' in the time you have together either online or in a face to face space
- Be flexible but maintain the focus on creating the regular commitment to the relationship
- Establish a way between you that can provide that face-to-face time
- Check in together with how things are going between you in the long distance relationship
- Be creative in how you might use the technology to help you each feel closer across the distance. I am reminded of how I was able to guide parents via modeling my strategic pausing decisions during self-care activities. Here is one of my funny little clips
(Please visit the site to view this media)
In Conclusion
What I am grateful for, and what stands out for me is that,
during my "RDI life", the long distance relationships I have made
with clients, with my consultant colleagues in Australia and elsewhere, and
with RDI Connect and Dr G and Dr S, and with all the RDI friends I have met
from across the world, are relationships that strengthen and support, motivate
and challenge me, and I will always have an investment in distance!!
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Prue Watson is an Occupational Therapist andRDI® Certified Consultant who consults with families in Central Queensland and surrounding remote areas. She also serves as an RDI training supervisor and is the Director of the newly established Australian Training Center.
CARFA Connect and Relate for Autism Inc
Ph 07 49289831 Mob 0404461739
www.connectandrelateforautism.com.au
www.pruewatson-ot.com.au
pruewatsonrdi@bigpond.com