RDI® FAQs

The parents and the child are the only participants in the treatment, with your RDI consultant guiding you through each step of the process. As your child progresses, siblings, other family members, and eventually peers may become more involved in your child’s program.

What’s involved in the treatment?

Parents are expected to subscribe to the RDI online learning system, available through the Connections Center. You’ll have access to RDI training materials, live webinars, a video library, an online parent community, and your personalized plan managed by your consultant. Parents also are required to practice what they learn and demonstrate parent-child moments on video for review and feedback by their consultant. You will meet in-person or online with your consultant every two weeks and be assessed every six to 12 months.

What does an RDI Program focus on?

RDI addresses what are known as “core developmental deficits”. You should see progress in these areas of your child’s development:

Dynamic Appraisal: This involves paying attention to the most important details and shifting attention continuously as priorities change. Dynamic Appraisal plays an important role in learning, personal safety, job performance, reading social cues, and other life skills.
Autobiographic Memory: Personal memories of coping strategies that were successful help your child overcome obstacles and anxiety, increase self-confidence, and plan ahead. Autobiographic Memory is important in the development of self-regulation skills and a sense of self.
Self-Awareness: An accurate sense of self is key to being able to monitor your emotions, regulate yourself, make decisions, and learn from life experiences.
Experience Sharing: Being connected with others in emotion, attention, thought and understanding is not only meaningful in close personal relationships, it’s central to all communication. Others can quickly sense when a person is following a conversation and cares about what’s being said.
Other skills: Resilience, social referencing, critical thinking, problem solving and flexible thinking are all part of the RDI program and important for future success.

How do I know if RDI is a good fit for my family?

The RDI Program requires a strong commitment from you, the parent. You must be ready to:

Make working on family relationships a priority
Receive feedback
Make regular time in your schedule

You will also need high-speed internet access, a camera for videotaping, and be willing to submit video of your family to your consultant.

How do I get started with an RDI® program for my child?

If you haven’t read The RDI Book by Dr. Steven Gutstein, this is a good place to start (www.rdiconnect.com). You can also join the online e-learning system, which gives you access to training materials without obligation. Please contact me if you would like an invitation to join. The e-learning courses on this system will eventually be required if you choose to work with a consultant.

If you decide to proceed to the next steps, you’ll need to complete parent training. In this first stage of the program, you’ll practice the core concepts of RDI with your child and will likely see positive results right away!

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