Relationship Development Intervention

The RDI program was developed by the psychologist Steven Gutstein in the 1990s. Gutstein studied the means by which typical children become competent in the world of emotional relationships. He looked at the research in developmental psychology and found that early parent-infant interaction predicted later abilities in language, thinking and social development. Two books of RDI-based activities as well as a book explaining the background ideas were published in 2002, but RDI has changed significantly since then and is now only available through the RDI_LS, or learning system, accessed by trained consultants. There are now trained consultants in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Singapore, India, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, and Switzerland. Latest publications by Dr. Steven Gutstein are: ''My Baby Can Dance - Stories of Autism, Asperger's and Success through the Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Program (2005), The Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Program and Education (2007), and The RDI Book - Forging New Pathways for Autism, Asperger's and PDD with the Relationship Development Intervention Program'' (2009). ==Major ideas==

RDI is based on the idea that "dynamic intelligence" must be enhanced for autistic children to develop typical behaviors. Dynamic Intelligence means being able to think flexibly, take different perspectives, cope with change, and process information simultaneously (e.g. listen and look at the same time). • Emotional referencing: learning from the subjective and emotional experiences of others • Social coordination: controlling behavior and observing others to enable participation in social relationships • Declarative language: using language and non-verbal communication to interact with others • Flexible thinking: adapting and altering plans when circumstances change • Relational information processing: placing things in context and solving problems lacking clear solutions • Foresight and hindsight: anticipating future possibilities based on past experiences ==Effectiveness==

While the Connections Center has conducted two studies into RDI, there have been as yet no independent studies, although there is currently one study being conducted at the University of Sydney, Australia. In a 2007 study, children whose families had participated in RDI and who had relatively high IQ at start of treatment showed dramatic changes in diagnostic category on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), though the study represented a non-experimental study without a control group and whose evaluators were not blinded to time in treatment. == References ==