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| RDI Certified Consultant, Melissa Chan |
In a recent parent meeting, one mother told me that she remembers an instance when she was an apprentice to a guide and that she can relay all that she learned but can’t say exactly how she was instructed. I replied with this quote because it reminded me of what she had experienced. This isn’t to say that guides should be invisible or sink into the background but what they impart or transfer has to be owned by their apprentice(s). Whatever is overcome has to feel like their success along with their guide's so that it allows them to feel their triumph over “Edge +1”.
This quote speaks more to the impression an “Edge + 1” triumph leaves on an apprentice rather than the role of the guide. However, with that in mind it helps us as guides, direct our actions so that what we frame and spotlight builds resilience through an initial feeling of success. We have all heard the importance of authentic and meaningful roles which lend themselves to cooperative activity. In putting this into practice it is important to use a slow pace to make repairs as necessary and engage in an activity where the apprentice can experience what is just out of reach. Pulling from my knowledge as an occupational therapist I like to make sure that whatever sensory issues, motor skills and visual/perceptual motor skills (or lack thereof) have minimal impact on chosen engagements. In this way we can focus more on what factors impede issues such as joint attention and co-regulatory decision making.
So as guides to apprentices whether it be parent/child or consultant/parent let us set up successes so that what we transfer, creates a feeling of “We did it!”.
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Melissa Chan, OTR/L RDI CC, has been an Occupational Therapist since 2001 and has worked for the past ten years at LearningSpring School, a school for children on the autism spectrum located in New York City. In 2012 she became a certified RDI consultant and is one of two LearningSpring staff members who work with families at the school. RDI has completely changed how I work as an occupational therapist and I love the family-based approach.