Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) is a trademarked proprietary treatment program for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), based on the belief that the development of dynamic intelligence is the key to improving the quality of life for individuals with autism. The program's core philosophy is that individuals with autism can participate in authentic emotional relationships if they are exposed to them in a gradual, systematic way. The goal of treatment is to systematically build up the motivation and tools for successfully interacting in social relationships, to correct deficits in this area that are thought to be common to all people with autism.
RDI focuses on cultivating the building blocks of social connection -- such as referencing, emotion sharing, coregulation, and experience sharing -- that normally develop in infancy and early childhood. RDI is a family-based program, where trained consultants support families to alter their interaction and communication styles. There is a period of parent education, followed by an assessment of both the child and the child-parent relationship. After that consultants support the family through a set of specific objectives.
RDI is not a behavioural approach, and does not view ASD as a behavioural disorder. Instead, ASD is caused by a lack of connections between neurones in the brain, or neural underconnectivity.
History
The RDI program is based upon a model of dynamic intelligence developed by Dr. Steven Gutstein. 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 RDIos, or operating system, accessed by trained consultants.
There are now trained consultants in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore.
Major Ideas
Neural underconnectivity in people with ASD leads to a rigid and static view of the world. Because of this dislike of change and inability to cope with new information, people with ASD do not develop dynamic intelligence which is essential for relationships, independence and quality of life.
Dynamic Intelligence means being able to think flexibly, take different perspectives, cope with change, process information simultaneously (e.g. listen and look at the same time), take into account different factors when making a decision. These abilities are essential in the real world.
Typical children develop dynamic intelligence through guided participation, that is being guided and given challenges by their caregivers. Due to their social difficulties, this relationship breaks down in children with ASD and so families must be supported to re-build it, in a slow and more deliberate manner. Children need to learn to reference their parents, share emotions and use experience-sharing language in order to build a close and trusting relationship where they can learn and cope with the uncertainty of life.
Research on RDI
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.
There is a large body of research supporting the components of RDI, including Guided Participation, Experience-Sharing language, Social referencing, and the effect of early infant interaction. This research is widely accepted in the mainstream.
