Final RDA (Sixth One)

The final session in our RDA went very smoothly today. Even though I did not follow-through on the exact plan we mapped out last time, Pamela managed to accomplish what we needed. While I did seek opportunities to practice the points, nods, and gestures, she managed to transfer these abilities into real-life situations like when we chatted about the princess dress. Our consultant was very impressed at how quickly Pamela takes responsibility for applying new skills in real life. She asked me how we do it and, honestly, I have no clue! Apparently, it typically involves a four-step process for most children to own a new skill. All I can think is that, between her struggles with speech and her desire to communicate, she latches onto every nonverbal thing we show her.

Our consultant gave me a broad vision of what we will be doing in the next month or two. We are hoping for Pamela to discover how to be more declarative in her communication rather than imperative. Since she finds nonverbal communication easier, we focused on gestures. We determined that most of the time her gestures are also imperative (because that is how we have always communicated with Pamela--she picked up what we have modeled for years).

We focused on receptive gestures first--gestures people use as listeners to let others know whether or not they are listening and understanding. Just about any website on body language lists what constitutes attentive body language. Pamela already gives attentive eye contact because she references our facial expressions and body language to improve her understanding. First, we worked on pointing, nodding, and head shaking to tell me she was receiving and processing my communications. We also established Pamela has no problem showing me her lack of interest by walking away or changing the subject!

Now, I need to assess in a non-sedentary situation how well she orients to me if I am turned away from her. Pamela already knows to tap me on the shoulder, but I am not sure what she will do if I do not automatically turn to her. After that, we will work on the posturing skills of an active listener: leaning forward, tilting head, or furrowed brow.

If Pamela does not automatically transfers these skills, I may need to let her know how much body language helps me know if she understands or is confused. We will role play to see if she can tell if I am listening or tuning her out. Think about how often autism spectrum children turn people off by their long monologues. Part of the issue could be ignoring the body language of someone who is not listening.

Once she masters these steps, we can move onto expressive imperative, which Pamela has already aced, the the final piece, expressive declarative, which has five major components which our consultant will cover in our July phone call.

In case you are wondering what an RDA is . . . The RDA is an assessment collaboration between a consultant and parents (and actually child, if the child is at a higher stage) to figure out where children and parents are in the various stages and objectives, to set up a program and working relationship between all parties, and to select an objective and break it down. Our consultant did not follow the usual plan for us because after the first two sessions she knew we had several major pieces in place (master-apprentice and co-regulation). She also reads my blog and knew that I have a working knowledge of RDI.

Before the RDA, our consultant collects background information through paper work and conversations with the parents to assess commitment to working with their child and understanding of RDI principles. Typically, consultants and parents proceed along this six-step path:

Session 1: Film each parent interacting with the child according to RDA-1, basically a set of playful activities under various frameworks (verbal, no words, etc.).

Session 2: Having viewed footage collected in session 1, the consultant develops hypotheses about the child's abilities and then tests them out during this session.

Session 3: The consultant debriefs the parents on the information gathered and explains guiding principles of RDI.

Session 4: The consultant coaches the parents in guiding the child to practice important components of the RDI lifestyle.

Session 5: The consultant and parents discuss goals, objectives and strategies for an RDI program, discuss how to implement and modify goals as needed, address any potential obstacles, and identify potential strategies to overcome them. They focus on the working relationship between the consultant and parents, too.

Session 6: The consultant coaches the parents in guiding the child on the specifics discussed in the previous session, so they can make any revisions. The consultant outlines the overarching goals for the next few months.

Princess Dress Diaries and Pretty Sandwiches

This is the first installment of the Princess Dress Diaries.

One thing I love about RDI is how you can turn almost anything into working on objectives. The key is how to frame the activity and figure out roles. . . .

Last Thursday, I blogged about how squeezed I am for time right now. One thing after another seems to be popping into my schedule, making me feel sandwiched between one deadline or another. I scheduled our sixth and final RDA for Monday and had no video to show for myself! I am also wrapping up my article for ChildLightUSA due on Tuesday.

Yesterday, before lunch, Pamela and I made a run to the formal dress shop in town--a new experience for Pamela as she has not worn a dress in about eight years! Pamela's cousin is getting married in September and hopes Pamela will enjoy playing a little part in her special day. Since being a member of the bridal party may be too much pressure, she can hand out brochures about the chapel to the visitors (a wonderful assembly line pattern to help Pamela stay regulated). She gets to pick out a dress, dubbed the princess dress to fire Pamela's imagination for the role. Like all of the bridesmaids, she can wear a grape-colored taffeta dress in a style of her choosing. The picture to the left shows the correct color and material. Pamela has many choices in style: straps or strapless, belt or beltess, and even length if it became a major issue for her. You can see the possibilities below!

Before leaving for the shop, I filmed us talking about the dresses. First, I hoped it would prepare her for the visit. Second, I wanted to collect some footage for our consultant. The funny thing is that, during the interaction, I felt a little frustrated because Pamela kept wanting to end the conversation before we had covered everything. I was NOT paying attention to all of her wonderful gestures, which was the WHOLE POINT of the activity. Pamela was getting frustrated with me about three minutes into the clip. A body language expert would pick up my annoyance when I crossed my arms. The wonderful thing is how Pamela realizes she must concentrate! WOW! I loved that insight into her understanding of a thinking process. That is why videotaping interactions can be so enlightening! The clip below shows our little chat:


After lunch, while I tapping out my thoughts on the computer, I took a phone call from someone from my church. An elderly gentleman in our church died last week and the food committee asked me to make ham and cheese and/or pimento cheese spread sandwiches for the funeral to be held Sunday. Why sandwiches? Well, I suspect my reputation as a culinary expert must have preceeded me! As I had not viewed our footage from the princess dress diaries and thought it lacking, I decided to film Pamela and I making two loaves of sandwiches for the funeral.

Today, we spent about twenty minutes today slapping together our contribution for the church. Whether or not we needed video for our consultant, I was so glad to have company while putting together the spread! By the way, I can already guess what my consultant is going to tell me . . .

TALK LESS! BLOG MORE!

Click here for next installment of the Princess Dress Diaries.

Funny Facts about Men & Women

My friend send me this email. Tanks François Oswald, I liked very much, it is so funny and real.Funny Facts about Men & Women:Men: All men are extremely busy.Although they are so busy, they still have time for women.Although they have time for women, they don’t really care for them.Although they don’t really care for them, they always have one around.Although they always have one around them,

Sweet Moments in the Midst of a Storm

A severe storm just blew through town. As the sun set, the cloud-covered sky became more grayish-green than usual. Suddenly, the wind blew through the trees and, before long, brilliant streaks of lightning lit up the sky. Crashing thunder and pelting raindrops disrupted Pamela's plans to watch DVDs in her room.

Rather than freaking out into meltdown city, Pamela walked into the office where we watch television (yes, lots of work gets done in the "office"--LOL). She sat down next to me and sadly told me she couldn't watch DVDs. I told her that we still have power and that her DVD player should work. She repeated that she couldn't watch DVDs. I asked why and she said, "It's the raindrops." I still didn't understand, and she said, "Too loud." I guess the storm was interrupting her viewing pleasure. Pamela did not ask me to fix anything or help her out; she was simply sharing her sadness.

Then, I told her about weather.com, and we checked the hour-by-hour weather report. We figured out that tomorrow morning will be the most storm-free time of the day. She stayed with me, and, as the storm began to let up, she started to cheer up, "It's almost over." I gave her my opinion as did David. I pointed out that we all agreed about the storm being almost over.

Pamela got up abruptly and left the room. She returned with a little toy of some cartoon duck unfamiliar to me. She came up to me, put it near my face, and asked, "What's this?" I said, "A duck. But, I don't know its name." She said, "It's a brown skating duck." I added, "How fun! It likes to skate."

She sat down on the floor and played with it. It was one of those windup toys that scoots along the floor. She got it going and, after it crashed, said, "Uh-oh, broken leg!" So, I played along, "Poor brown duck!" She did it again only this time she informed me that the duck scraped its knee.

I asked, "Can I kiss the duck?" Pamela stood up and kissed it. Then, I said, "I want to kiss the duck." She brought it over for me to kiss.

This whole interaction lasted about 10 minutes, much longer than her typical hit and run interactions!

P.S. Just now, Pamela returned to her spot next to me on the couch. She began channel surfing. She asked me about Independence Day, and I told her that it was a movie about spaceships and aliens. She shook her head and said, "No. The fourth." She chuckled when I explained, "I thought you were talking about the movie. You were talking about a holiday."

She tried to get me on the Pamela Express by saying, "Yo-yo!" I decided to misunderstand her intentionally and said, "That's what you call people who are being silly." She shook her head and I said, "If someone is silly, you can call them a yo-yo." She laughed.

PHOTOS - morph into a animal (FUN)

In youwild you can morph yourself -- or a friend, family member or pet -- into an imperiled animal of your choice.It´s a fun way to learn about imperiled wildlife and a fun way to play with your friends or family.It's simple: You start by choosing an animal from our selection of wolf pups, sea otters, pandas, lions, chimpanzees, and other adorable, majestic, and even scary-looking critters.