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It is essential that you become familiar with RDI® theory and basic principles as well as feel comfortable with the appropriateness of this approach for you, your child and your family.

If you have not yet attended one of Connections Center’s workshops, this would be the ideal place to start. 2-day introductory workshops are held at various locations throughout North America and intermittently in other countries as well. Since the RDI® Program is constantly evolving to reflect recent advances in neurological and ASD research, attending a workshop is the best way to educate yourself on current program information. You can find a workshop schedule on the Connections Center website, www.rdiconnect.com.

If attending a workshop is impractical for you the next best resource to learn more about the RDI® Program is viewing the 5-hour Connection Center DVD, “Going to the Heart of Autism: Relationship Development Intervention”.

Viewing the DVD and/or attending a Connection Center workshop is required prior to moving on to the next step in the consultation process.

Once you are confident that you have a basic understanding of the intervention, and are willing to make the commitment to integrating RDI® into your family’s lifestyle, the next step is to schedule a 1-hour phone meeting with me at no fee. During this initial meeting you’ll have the opportunity to discuss any remaining questions prior to entering into consultation.


Assuming my experience and personality are compatible with the needs of your child and family we will arrange to meet in person to begin work on the first step in remediation, parent readiness. Prior to this meeting you will be asked to complete initial questionnaires, prepare a 30-minute home video and gather any prior evaluations, assessments and information that you feel would be helpful for me in learning more about your child.





Parent readiness focuses on preparing you and your partner for the journey that lies ahead. Objectives such as simplifying your day to day lifestyle, moving out of crisis, developing a greater awareness of how ASD has impacted your family, your relationship with your child and your child’s quality of life, and having a good grasp of basic RDI® concepts are a profound and necessary starting point. For some, parent readiness may take months to develop, for others, this process may happen more quickly.






Once you and your partner have reached an appropriate level of readiness, as determined by Connections Center’s parent objective protocol, the next step is to complete a Relationship Development Assessment (RDA™). This six-part assessment of will result in an RDI® home program tailored to meet your child’s specific needs, as well as an improved understanding of how to be an effective "Guide" to your child ("Apprentice").






Once the RDA™ is completed you will begin working specifically on developmental objectives determined by the RDA™. You will be required to regularly prepare and reflect upon video footage of you and your child’s interaction. Families are typically required to send video clips representative of their objective weekly for analysis and feedback, however, frequency is ultimately determined based on the needs of the individual family. Video footage will be required regardless of if a family is local or not. Feedback will be provided via home, phone, email, web, or a combination of these depending of which method is most effective for your family.

A repeat RDA™ is completed every six months or as close to this as possible, in order to reflect, update objectives and track and accelerate progress.

Step 1: Getting started

Step 2: Parent Readiness

Step 3: The Relationship Development Assessment™

Step 4: Ongoing Consultation