"A Child's Recovery From Autism: Finding Success in a Maze of Therapies" by Hanna Rotbaum
The following book review was written by RDI Certified Consultant, Gail Ludwig, for Amazon.com and is from the eyes of an RDI® consultant.
This author found RDI® (Relationship Development Intervention) to be one of the crucial interventions for her son. I applaud this mom and her relentless search for help to save her autistic son from a life of isolation. Throughout her son's regressions, which appeared to be related to biomedical challenges, she consistently worked with him using an RDI® approach.
RDI® is a developmental intervention that gives a child a second chance to master foundational concepts typically achieved in the first few years of life. Parents are guided by a consultant which empowers them to give their child or children opportunities for social, emotional and cognitive growth. The goal is to slowly transfer the responsibility from the consultant to the parent and from the parent to the child. The intervention allows the autistic child to think for him or herself instead of being dependent on others. As its founder Dr. Stephen Gutstein says, " RDI® is a marathon and not a sprint," meaning that it is a slow process and may take years to accomplish. Through this approach and The Amy Yasko Protocol (for biomedical support) the author shares the progress her son made in being able to negotiate our dynamic social and emotional world. She shares how with her guidance, he was ultimately able to develop successful relationships with family and friends. She gives examples of activities that she did with her son during his early childhood years. Because of her extreme dedication, even after months and months of struggles, she persevered and was victorious.
For this mother, RDI® became a way of life and because she made the commitment to giving her son opportunities throughout each and every day, she achieved a great outcome.
My work as an RDI® consultant has been the most rewarding work in my thirty year career working with adults and children with disabilities. Each and every day I help families give their children opportunities for growth. My wish is that this book will give parents of autistic children the hope that with the right interventions there is hope for their child or children. Many interventions are mentioned in this book. What is most important is that parents know about all of them and make the best choices for their family. The message in this book is one of optimism. It shows that if parents are determined and continue to search for the right intervention and work hard, remediation and even recovery is possible.
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Gail Ludwig has been an RDI® Program Certified Consultant for five years. Currently employed by The Autism Group in San Diego, which also employs five other RDI® Program Certified Consultants. At first Gail specialized in working with teens and adults, but now works with families who have children of all ages. In addition to traditional RDI® programs; Gail trains classroom aides and shadows, and also RDI® extenders, and supervises school and extender programs. Continuing with her practice as a speech/language pathologist, over the past couple of years Gail has applied the principles of RDI® to her speech clients as well. Email Gail