Fw: Q and A with Dr. Gutstein about RDI 5.0

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Q and A with Dr. Gutstein about " RDI® 5.0 "

Q and A with Dr. Gutstein about " RDI 5.0 "

03/06/07

In this issue:

Feature Article

The " RDI® 5.0 " Curriculum, a New Generation of Thinking.

Q and A with Dr. Gutstein about " RDI® 5.0 "

Story of the Week:

From a Mom's journal

Video of the Week:

Jumping (Part 2)

Upcoming Events

New on the Web Site

DVD Excerpt:

" What's new? " Moving towards growth

Dr. Gutstein Quotable

Research Summary:

Autism and a Deficit in Broadening the Spread of Visual Attention. (2003)

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New to the

RDI® Program?

Relationship Development Intervention® Program

Download the Introduction to the RDI® Program

(32-page Booklet)

Preview the 5-hour " Going to the Heart of Autism " DVD

LISTEN! Radio interview with Dr. Gutstein about the RDI® Program (40

minutes)

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Scholarship Fund News:

Get discounts on dozens of different products and services through the

power of group buying. Rana Burr, representative of National Companies, is

donating 100% of her commissions and any bonuses to the RDI® Program Scholarship

Fund. Just mention " RDI " in the " Comments Box " when you fill out the information

form on her web site (bottom left of the menu).

Penny , Pampered Chef Consultant, is pleased to offer a fundraiser

to help the RDI Scholarship Fund. Order from her website before the end of

March, and she will donate 15% to 25% of the total sales. Simply click on " order

products " and enter " RDI Scholarship " as the host.

Order any Kay product from this web site, and 20% of your sale will

be donated to the RDI® Program Scholarship Fund. Just specify " RDI " on your

online order sheet. Shop 24 hours a day! Visit me, your Kay Independent

Beauty Consultant.

Learn more about the RDI® Program Scholarship Fund

Volunteer to help with the RDI® Program Scholarship Fund

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THANK YOU:

Many thanks to all those who contributed and helped put the newsletter

together. Special thanks to Dr. Gutstein.

EDITOR:

Bev C

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Spotlights

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Dr. Gutstein, live in-person, in Singapore!

RDI® Program 2-day introductory workshop in Singapore on May 28-29,

2007.

Early Bird Registration Deadline: March 23, 2007.

Download a brochure or registration form.

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New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia &

India News!

The book, My Baby Can Dance can now be shipped directly from

Australia! See below for details.

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Latest News Articles mentioning the RDI® Program or quoting Dr.

Gutstein:

Parents seek better autism program from schools

Ped Med: Autism myths abound (United Press Int'l)

Ped Med: The autism treatment challenge (UPI)

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Washington, DC - 2-Day Workshop

March 9-10, 2007

Hear Dr. Gutstein live in person in Washington, DC, for the most

up-to-date information available on the RDI® Program.

Registrations will be accepted at the door on Friday March 9, 2007,

if space is available.

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Help families fund their RDI® Program!

See below for news about the RDI® Program Scholarship Fund.

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Calling all " Veteran Parents "

Live Chat with Dr. Gutstein, Tuesday, March 20, 8-9 pm CST

Converting from the old to the new objectives. See below.

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Would you be interested in child care at the Conference? Click here

to let us know.

RDI® Program 4th Annual Conference - San Diego, CA

Mark these dates on your calendar! We will be providing more

information soon.

Professional Conference: August 2 through August 4, 2007

Parent Conference: August 4 through August 6, 2007

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Workshop Spotlights

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2-Day Introductory Workshops

" It will teach you to view autism is a whole new light. For me, it

made a lot of sense and created a new understanding of the spectrum. " - Kim

Rineer, Parent

Dr. Gutstein in Australia and Singapore:

Sydney, Australia - May 21-22, 2007

Singapore - May 28-29, 2007.

Dr. Gutstein in Canada:

Vancouver, BC, Canada - June 8-9, 2007

Dr. Gutstein in the United States:

Washington, DC - March 9-10, 2007

Minneapolis, MN - July 13-14, 200

San Diego, CA - July 27-28, 2007

Seattle, WA - October 5-6 2007

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Beginning 4-day Parent Seminars

Now completely updated based on RDI® Program 5.0!

Ft. Lauderdale, FL area: - April 10-13, 2007

Houston, TX: April 30-May 3, 2007

To receive your Free Parent Seminar Info-Pak, email us at

parents@... or call Nisha, our Parent Training Coordinator, at

ext. 108. (For calls within the U.S. or Canada, use our toll-free

number 1-, x108.) If you are interested in the seminar, we suggest

you register now to hold your space, as almost all of our seminars have waiting

lists.

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Featured Resource

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ATTENTION: New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong,

Indonesia and India

My Baby Can Dance: Stories of Autism, Asperger's and Success Through

the Relationship Development Intervention® (RDI®) Program

We now have the ability to ship the book, My Baby Can Dance, from

Australia. This will considerably reduce the shipping expense. To have your

order shipped via Air Mail from our Australian distributor, please complete the

PDF order form and fax back to us at . Click here to download the

order form. Do not add this item to the online shopping cart. To take advantage

of the shipping rates from Australia, your " ship to " address must be in one of

the following countries: Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia

and India. All other countries should order using our online store. More

information about the book.

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Spotlights for Professionals

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Dr. Gutstein's OS Chats for Professionals:

Mondays, 10 a.m. CST and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. CST

Professional Chat Transcripts Library (all chats, including Dr

Gutstein's OS Chats)

On the Resources Group (for Professionals only)

Recent Discussions: RDA3 question; Animal behavior/cognition;

Questions regarding Foundations; Undiagnosed; Question about lindamoodbell.com;

Visual Tracking; Scientists Try to Predict Intentions; Transferring Input

Information from Current New OS to the Update; Parent Involvement & Treatment

Planning Booklets; I'm Bored; gertie balls; Fantastic article; Lord

and Minshew in Chicago; RDI OS - FEEDBACK for the OS Development Team; How

to Invest in Your Children This Summer; Presenting Parent Education; Any

consultants for families in Ireland?...

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Professional Seminars:

Professionals talk about the Certification Process

Next Beginning & Intermediate Seminars:

Register for March 20-23 (Beginning) and March 26-29 (Intermediate).

Next Advanced Seminar with spaces available:

Register for August 14-17, 2007

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New on the Web Site:

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Information about the ADVANCED Parent Seminar

Tuesdays, 8 p.m. CENTRAL TIME: Live Chat Calendar

RDI® Program Scholarship Fund

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DVD Excerpt

" What's new? " Moving towards growth

Dynamic systems have a goal of promoting productive levels of

uncertainty. In other words, we actually enter into those systems because we

want to increase the level of uncertainty. We go to hear someone speak, not

because we want them to repeat what they have written in a book, but we want to

hear something new. We have a conversation, and we certainly don't ask to talk

about what we spoke about last week. The first thing we ask is, “What's new?” We

spend most of our lives choosing to enter situations of greater uncertainty

because we know that that's where growth, enjoyment and excitement come from.

-From Chapter 8, " What is a Dynamic System? "

DVD Preview: If you're interested in learning more about the DVD,

view the video preview, The five-hour Going to the Heart of Autism DVD can be

ordered on-line from our secure, on-line store.

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Dr. Gutstein Quotable

Whether a child reaches all of the neurotypical milestones at point

" x " or point " y " is irrelevant. The key is that they are back in the process of

discovery.

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RDI® Program 5.0

The " RDI® 5.0 " Curriculum, a New Generation of Thinking

Guest Columnist: Hannah Gutstein

Back in 2002, Dr. Gutstein realized that he would have to do a major

overhaul of the RDI® Program curriculum. Not that it wasn't sufficient, but it

was just sufficient, just enough. Now it is 2007. After hundreds of research

articles and books, and thousands of hours of work, later this year the new RDI®

5.0 curriculum will be officially released as part of the new RDI® Program

Operating System (RDI®-OS). This new curriculum not only does justice to all

five areas of the core deficits of autism spectrum disorders, but is a

breathtaking program that charts in essence the human experience, a program that

makes sense of the world of development.

Below is an interview with Dr. Gutstein about the evolution of this new

curriculum and what to expect when it is released in the new RDI®-OS.

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Q and A with Dr. Gutstein about " RDI® 5.0 "

Tell us a little about this new RDI® 5.0 curriculum. It was completely

re-built from the ground up?

Yes. My hope is that this goes beyond autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and

is the beginning of a curriculum for dynamic intelligence. I have included all

of the stages so that the objectives can easily be incorporated into a

neurotypical classroom curriculum, or any other setting that is conducive to

groups of children, at any age. Perfect for home schooling, summer camp, Sunday

school, raising your children and helping your employees. This is the first

attempt to develop a comprehensive series of developmentally based objectives

for dynamic intelligence, in a logical progression.

The internal consistency of the system was very important to me. Each

objective has its place in a multidimensional logic. So new discoveries sprout

in each new stage, while older discoveries are elaborated. We emphasize self

development as a critical theme running through all the stages.

Is it fair to say that this new curriculum is the core of the new

Operating System (RDI®-OS)?

Oh yes. It sets the stage for the Operating System. It's a consensual

framework for the OS, and allow us to link any video, recommendation or comment

to a specific objective. Right now all the professionals already have access to

an on-line version of this new curriculum and are providing feedback on each

objective, so we will be able to incorporate all of their collective wisdom into

the RDI®-OS, too.

Why did the objectives need this major updating?

I gradually realized that they didn't do justice to all five areas of the

core deficits of autism. Some were not in correct developmental progression;

some were more milestones signifying progress, than objectives that needed to be

worked on. And, there wasn't a clear differentiation between them. For example,

we are seeing initiation of joint attention much earlier than you would expect

in a strict developmental progression. I had to begin over again. The challenge

was for the objectives to reflect, as much as possible, the development of

thought as a productive, continuous process. Some of the objectives are in there

because they are taken pretty much intact from developmental psychology

research; they are like the anchors.

How is this new curriculum organized?

The whole system revolves around 150 distinct discoveries, organized into

25 cognitive tools, all flowing from the five dynamic processes related to the

five core deficits of ASD: Experience Sharing, Dynamic Analysis, Episodic

Memory, Self Awareness, and Creative-Flexible Thinking / Problem-solving.

Discoveries are just that, new cognitive discoveries that are the result

of the guide's challenges or the child’s self discoveries. But, I couldn't just

stop there. After breaking everything down to this point, I then had to

determine what a reasonable prototype would be for each discovery: what would an

initial discovery look like? When would we expect it to occur, in what

progression? And, what would this progression look like, and how would it be

elaborated over the years? I also had to determine how the progression would

grow conceptually, in terms of partners, settings, responsibilities etc.

After that, I had to determine what kinds of developmental foundations

would need to be in place before a child could make each discovery. When that

was resolved, I had to make sure that each objective was clearly labeled in

terms of proper stage, process, tool and then write a lesson name and brief

layman’s description. Finally, I had to write a more detailed description and

also describe what a mastered objective would look like. It is by far the

hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

What will this new RDI® 5.0 curriculum mean for parents?

For starters, these new objectives are more precise, user-friendly, and

comprehensive. There is less guess-work and there is much more help with each

individual step. It is also much easier to translate into school or home

settings. The objectives in this new version are broken down in a way so that

parents feel a real sense of progress, faster, or alternatively, Consultants

will more quickly distinguish the children that need additional kinds of help.

Regardless, the program is designed to keep parents and children motivated and

able to perceive steady progress. It will also help Consultants more easily

guide parents in framing, spotlighting and scaffolding. The level of detail and

step-by-step progression truly differentiates the RDI® Program from any other

form of intervention.

So the objectives taken as a whole (parent and child) are a step-by-step

way to develop competence in the entire family system?

Absolutely, they outline the course of the RDI® Program. One thing that

you have probably noticed by now is that as we move along it is impossible to

relate any objective to one cognitive process. They are in actuality

combinations of processes. But, I don't want to drive parents crazy, and we

don't want parents becoming obsessed with each objective as the key spotlight.

We are more interested in helping return parents and children to the

developmental pathway, the process of discovery. You have to think about a

continual spiral of development, not a ladder.

What about these new 50 parent objectives that are part of the new 5.0

curriculum? How did you realize that the child objectives were not enough?

We realized that RDI® Program was basically a parent training program and

that parents desperately needed a way to evaluate their own progress as they

mastered principles. And, they needed a step-by-step way to learn how to become

good guides for their children on the spectrum. We are now able to specify

exactly which parent objectives we hope to address in each of the parent

trainings, and are able to scaffold the many processes needed for parents to

regain their competence as guides.

The uniqueness of the RDI® Program is that our methodology is entirely

based on how to best help parents regain the guided participation relationship

with their child. The methods focus on helping the guides, and I don’t know of

other programs in autism that are working on systematically helping guides to be

more effective.

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