RDI Therapy

Hi J.. our son is 2.5 and was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. He recieves speech therapy, occupationial therapy and ABA in his preschol. I am so grateful b/c I see progress! Since the early intervention services (esp. speech) our son has improved. It's a slow process, but I am hopeful that by the time he is 5 or 6y/o, he will be fine. His mornings are not his best b/c he is not very sociable to our neighbors, but I don't worry too much b/c is is learning how to re-program his thinking. In September, God-willing, he will be attending a school for special needs. The therapists all say the same thing: make him ask for what he wants, don't worry about the clarity of the word, just that he is making sounds. as far as soially, they say ontinue to tell me: "say hello, say goodbye, say... whatever. imitation, esp looking in the mirror, and lots of songs and books. My son's favorite is Brown Bear, Brown Bear and GoodNight Moon. Find out what your daughter enjoys and teach her from that. Be blessed, hopeful, and prayful -- it works for us!

I have no experience with RDI, but I worked with a child with PDD a few years ago - I recommend reading Let Me Hear Your Voice by Catherine Maurice and a play therapy book by O. Ivar Lovaas (the name escapes me). Good luck!

Any therapy will be helpfull. You should get services for your son throught the Department of Education. There are many schools that offer services in a environment where your child will feel comfortable. You want your child to be around other children who are in the same situation. The teachers are trained to deal with child who have PDD.

Hi! I am an ABA teacher (mostly EI and CPSE) and an LMSW as well. RDI is great because it tackles an a great area of weakness for those on the spectrum, ability to socialize. However, please understand that there are an infinite amount of social situations which is what makes this a difficult (yet doable) task. You should also look into social skills groups (play groups) with LMSWs. You should begin with 1 teacher and 2 children (same level) and slowly increase to 4 children. The therapist will work on social skills, communication, etc. Good luck.

Hi J.,

My son who is now 6 was diagnosed with PDD when he was 19 months. He stopped speaking and looking at us and didn't speak again until he was 4 years old. Thanks to ABA. At that time he was under the age of 3 so Early Intervention Services picked up the bill as well as assigned him a Speech Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, a Parent Educator, a Play Specialist (who teaches him how to play) and the best service they provided was ABA (Applied Behavioral something..I can't remember) Anyway, ABA takes him into his bedroom and has a 2 hour one on one. And they work on rewards. If he points or says or does what they want, then he gets something. It was the only therapy in our opinion the ABA that made my son who he is today. He's six and at times, many times, I want to tell him to be quiet b'cs he's talking soooo much. Isn't that great!

It supposedly works well. Definitely contact Early Intervention in your state. They will evaluate and provide services (you can still do private on your own). Depending on where you live the public school district may have a pre-k for him to attend or services that he can begin when he is 3. My child had some of the same symptoms as PDD. I received speech therapy from the early intervention (live in NJ). I also paid for private speech therapy & physical therapy. When she was 3 she went to our school district's "Learning disabled" pre-K. It was exceptionally good. They also have a summer program. She is now a 2nd grader and doing extremely well as are her friends that were in the pre-K program with her. My friend who is a teacher had an autistic child and did rdi and every other type of intervention available!! He is no longer autistic. She would take photos of people and objects and use them for speech therapy she would give herself. He is no longer considered autistic and now at 7 doesn't get any therapy.
Try everything...but also get whatever is free/discounted from the county/state/city as well.

Hello. Have you looked at all into Floortime? Www.Floortime.com. It is another relationship based approach. Relationship based approaches can be very helpful for kids on the spectrum. I work with one of the specialists at the YCS institute for infant and preschool mental health in east orange. We do DIR evals and Floortime therapy. Best of luck feel free to contact me at ____@____.com if you wish .