One drop of ink may make a million think

Quote: Mark Twain

What Eggsactly Is RDI? Part I

Pamela and I decorated eggs last Monday. The occasionally blurry clip illustrates how much more integrated her brain is. While coloring eggs with crayons, we took turns singing bits and pieces back and forth. She enjoyed my play on the word blue. When we shifted to using the egg handle, a new skill, she became very quiet, paid attention, and lifted the egg out on her own. Once she went back to coloring, Pamela relaxed and played. Not only did she multi-task here, but her executive function skills kicked in: she knew when to banter and when to sharpen her focus without prompts and correction.



For new readers, Pamela could not do any of this three years ago. Last year, I blogged video clips of Pamela before and after and, if you want to see the difference, click here.

Three years ago, I remember looking at videos of families doing RDI and smugly thinking, "That looks so easy! Pamela can do that!" Not being able to do the simplest things like smile at me as we each opened a bag of Jell-o rocked my world. She could not even watch what I did and copy it without heavy verbal prompting, which is what you don't do in RDI. Even though she was smart and capable, she could not interact in ways that some of the lower functioning teens on the videos could. I finally realized that Pamela really operated like an infant in social and emotional milestones.

What a shock!

Right now, I'm shepherding some parents through reading The RDI Book (a must-read) and giving them strategies for beginning RDI. I have heartily recommended my consultant (Amy Cameron), who is the best. However, some people want to have a clearer understanding of what it entails before taking that step. I would be a hypocrite if I didn't support them for we tried implementing RDI for 15 months before we hired Amy.

What is RDI? I think RDI is a two-pronged approach at giving people in the autism spectrum the chance to develop relationships (not just follow a script or set of rules), to find meaningful work and their purpose in life, and to live as independently as they can. Many people with autism are highly intelligent and can do some amazing things. Their struggles with understanding people and dynamic situations prevent many from leading full lives.

Why RDI? The point of RDI is to go back to those developmental milestones from infancy on and do them over with an exaggerated GPR. We remediate autism, which is not the same thing as curing: we hope to develop whatever potential for dynamic thinking our children have. RDI is not a race to achieve XYZ before the child reaches a given age. It is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a lifestyle, not a therapy.

What are the two prongs?
(1) Parents learn the intricate details of a Guided Participation Relationship (GPR is a term coined by Barbara Rogoff in her book Apprenticeship in Thinking).
(2) Parents teach children to think dynamically through a GPR, which enables them to progress in social, emotional, and communication milestones.

Are you saying I don't know how to parent? NO!!!!!!! Most of us have both typical children and autistic children. Even parents with an only child instinctively apply GPR with children outside of their family. The reason why parents need to study GPR is that the autistic child did not respond to how we typically parent due to the brain and/or immune and/or gut issues their bodies were undergoing. We slowly changed their parenting style as the autistic child became less and less able to follow.

Is my child too old? Children and adults in the autism spectrum are benefitting from RDI. Pamela had just turned 18 years old when we started. Some consultants specialize in teens and adults.

Why is The RDI Book big on theory and short on application? The book has the latest and greatest information on RDI: how the young brain develops, what the autistic brain does differently, why they recommend interacting in ways completely opposite to most advice on teaching and parenting ASD children, what research documents GPR and dynamic intelligence, what guide and apprentice mean, etc. Certified consultants help you with the application of RDI.

Is a consultant necessary? A consultant will help you apply RDI in your unique family with its own unique circumstances. The consultant evaluates where parents are in GPR and where the child is in dynamic thinking. You get access to e-learning modules, webinars, archived webinars, and extensive and well-organized parent and child objectives through the twelve stages they have outlined. My consultant is three-and-a-half hours from me, and RDI's computerized objective system keeps us on track as a long-distance family.

How do I pick one? Finding the right consultant for you is vital. Your family and the consultants need to mesh well: the consultant is guiding you and you guide your child. Follow your gut: it is far better to pick the consultant right for you and drive four extra hours. You might want to pick on specialized in speech, sensory integration, teens, etc., depending on your situation. Get with other families on autism email lists to find out who they recommend and why. Call several candidates until you find one who communicates well with you. Ask for their pricing schedule and focus on the ones who don't nickel and dime you to death (ahem, my consultant has a flat fee and that works for us).

Will I need a consultant to babysit me forever? The job of a consultant is to work herself (or himself) out of a job. Once parents make it through all their objectives and everyone agrees they are ready to fly solo, parents can assign their own child objectives for a small monthly fee to get access to the computer system. Some families decide to let it go entirely when they see their child making steady progress.

What if I'm a skeptic like you were? What you don't believe me? I'm shocked. Just joking! :-) Find a group of like-minded parents in your town or online who are interested in reading The RDI Book together and discuss what each chapter means and how it looks with an autistic child in real life. Join an email list focused on RDI (I'm on HS-RDI and Autism-Remediation-for-Our-Children). Glean as much as you can from the RDI connect site and consultant websites. Subscribe to parent blogs and consultant blogs too (four goodies for newbies are Horizons DRC (three certified consultants), Kathy Darrow (in training), Laura DeAngelo (certified), and Laurel Joss (certified)).

Stay tuned for a post on Guided Participaton Relationship or how parents guide their children . . .

Think About It

Facebook:Amanda

"Sya & kak slalu b'gdh.Asal jumpa mesti gdh.Pd 1 hr kmi ddk b'3 b'sma bapa..Kmi mula b'citer ttg future. Bapa ckp "Ti bapa pencen,bapa mau beli tanah & buat uma d atas tanah i2.Klu bapa m'nggl, kmu kubur bapa d tanah itu.Kmi heran npa mau dikubur d kwsn uma? Kmi b'tanya " Pak,napa mau kubur sna,npa bkn di kuburan?" Dgn selamba bapa m'jwb "Ya la,klu kmu gdh2 bapa terus bangkit dr kubur hentak pala kmu pakai tongkat!."...

Few days before, I really not feeling well....no mood to read nor to talk. But when I opened my FB, I saw dis from her wall's. At 1st I rili thought dat dis will be a sad ending, but she proof me WRONG...She still da funny fren in my life and da 1 who can make me smile & laugh even when I'm sick.


Then I think, parents will do anything to ensure that their children will have a better life and keep the siblings relationship as good as possible. But her father put it in the most funny way...yet he highlight his massage to his daughters not to fight no matter what...

Part 5: Brain Regions and Controls

Brain is the most complex chemistry kit in human body. Due to this fact, many psychology researcher, particularly neurology and cognitive psychologists, started to analyse human brain so they could understand the brain more proper. This mechanism only require steady supply of glucose to function properly (click HERE to read about proper brain foods). In other words, the brain may only absorb glucose as food and nothing else. Human brain consist of 5 main regions; prefrontal, frontal, parietal, occipital and the temporal lobes. Other sub-components of the brain include: cortical, medial, central nuclei, lateral, basal, accessory basal nuclei, executive function etc., but will not be discussed in this post.

Please click on the diagrams to enlarge its size.

Anyway, here is one piece of information to remind everyone before writting this post. There is a research written very clearly that fatness gene will reduce the efficacy of the brain. A group of scientists suggests that people with the FTO gene (fat mass and obesity gene, or fat people) had 8% lesser volume in their frontal lobes and 12% lesser in the occipital lobes. Elder obese adults usually have smaller brains and so, will more likely to develop dementia. Why? Because our brain can only accept blood foods through the blood vessels from the body. If the fats in our body slow down the flow of the blood from flowing to our brain, the consequence is killing the neurons. So, people, try to stay away from being fat.


Caption: human brain


Caption: general view of the human brain regions

I am sure many of us are curious about these function of these brain lobes. What do these brain lobes do? How could we interact the brain and functioning of our body? In this post, I will briefly explain the function of these brain lobes with some diagrams in the below.


Caption: visual

The back section of the brain, the occipital lobe controls human vision. When human perceive information with their eye, the information will travel along the eye (perception) and reach the back of the brain. This is the brain region that deals with brain processing. Anyway, the information will be passed on to many other brain regions to be analysed into edges, forms, colours and positions. Overall, the occipital lobe only deals with visual processing.


Caption: auditory


Caption: left and right brain hemispheres

The auditory cortex of the brain deals with sound analyses. The auditory cortex is located somewhere in the temporal lobe. However, the temporal lobe does not deal only with sound; it also deals with visual perception and analyses. This is why the temporal lobe is an extremely important brain region dealing with information perception. Anyway, the auditory cortex analyses the frquency and location (i.e. which ear, distance etc.) of the sound. Since human brain is splitted into two, the left and right hemisphere; music is analysed mostly by the right hemisphere whilst speech mostly on the left.


Caption: touch

Touch, formelly known as sensory or tactile is one of the five human senses, controlled by the somatosensory cortex. Shown in the picture above, the somatosensory cortex laid on the brain surface around the parietal lobe, and has formed a complex map of human body. The somatosensory cortex also deals more with the most sensitive body parts (i.e. fingertips, toes, lips, genital areas) than lesser sensitive body areas.


Caption: sense


Caption: cerebral cortex


Caption: top-view of the olfactory bulb

Smell and taste important part of human senses, and are usually analysed in the lower region of the prefrontal lobes. This brain region also analyses the olfactory bulb. Olfactory is another term used to represent scent. The olfactory bulb is also the most forward region in the brain, dealing with scent receptors and nerves. On the other hand, the olfactory bulb connect directly with the emotion area, though are less analytical. If you look closely at the diagram above, the olfactory bulb is connected to the thalamus. The thalamus is situated in the midbrain. It deals with relaying sensation, special sense and motor (limb movement) signals to the cerebral cortex, along with the regulation of consciousness, sleep and alertness, and most importantly, it help direct our attention and behaviour.


Caption: speech and language

The two brain areas controlling speech analyses, on the left side of the brain, analyses basic sound frequencies. The two areas are controlled by the cerebral cortex, and are located next to the auditory cortex. The two brain modules, (1) Wernicke's area deals with language comprehension (i.e. the understanding of written and spoken language),and (2) Broca's area is responsible for speech articulation (production). The motor region is intentionally used to control and coordinate the physical process of limb movements (i.e. moving hands and legs), but is also important in the process of speaking. For instance, mouth and tongue movements.


Caption: planning and decision-making

The prefrontal and frontal lobe regions deal with planning and plotting of ideas, and decision-making. These two regions are highly developed more in human than in other animals. These complex brain areas formulate calculations and cognitions, particularly important for intelligent thought. This is why humans are recognised as the most intelligent living being. These components store information about past rewards, what they like and not. They also have a working memory, allowing human to keep and process serveral ideas in the mind at the same time (i.e. multitasking).


Caption: social interaction

The lower region of the front section, the prefrontal lobe controlled our ability to interact socially with other people. The prefrontal lobe deals with complex social emotions, controlling emotional traits such as empathy, guilt, trust and other behavioral control. If the stems in this region are damaged, then human will keep doing inappropriate things, such as criminal and psyhopathic.


Caption: memory

The three types of memory; short term, long term and the episodic memory are controlled by the frontal region of our brain by both frontal lobe and the prefrontal lobe. Specifically, the prefrontal lobe deals with immediate recall of informations. For such, we should thank our prefrontal lobe for allowing us to immediately answer simple questions like 100 + 100. The prefrontal lobe also controls the working memory of our brain. Working memory deals with the three major human memories, and is associated with the hippocampus. The hippocampus govern our long term memories, such as places we went, things we have done and so (click HERE to read more of the hippocampus). Numerous research suggest that the hippocampus is also associated with directions. If so, a person with strong long term memory should have a strong sense of direction. There are some research explained that the long term memories and factual information, gradually shifting around our brain and so, the memories should be analysed by 2 additional brain regions, that is the temporal lobes and frontal lobes. The cerebellum is also an important brain region that store memories of how to conduct different activities.


Caption: emotion

Emotion is probably the hardest component to understand in the human brain. Emotion is primitively connected to the region of the brain called the limbic system. The limbic system lies somewhere in the below of the cerebral cortex. The limbic system is connected to the amyglada, a brain component which controls every aspects of emotion in a person. It is also the brain component producing adrenaline. Adrenaline is a hormone produced by the body when you are frightened, angry or excited, which makes the heart beat faster and prepares the body to react to danger. The amyglada component was heavily debated, when some psychologist believed that this component is not necessary when dealing with human emotion. Anyway, the limbic system has connections with all senses. The limbic system has a very direct link to unconcious reactions such as guts and instincts.


Caption: body functions

Caption: spinal cord

The brainstem in our brain controls our body functions, such as heart beat rate, blood pressure, the release of hormones such as adrenaline, and other basic activities such as breathing, sleeping and walking. The brainstem is located somewhere on top of the spinal cord (look at the photo in the above).


Caption: problem-solving

The anterior cingulate cortex in our brain govern all forms of human behaviour. The anterior cingulate cortex is linked to the limbic system (emotion). This is why it will decide which behaviour is appropriate for us, and how we should react at different scenarios. The anterior cingulate cortex will also monitor our problemss, such as conflict, errors and pain.


Caption: limbs and movements

In psychology, the movement control term has been replaced by motor. Motor represents the movement of limbs. The control of body movement is a complex process. It recruits several brain regions. For instance, we will first plan to walk to "somewhere". The planning process takes place in the prefrontal and frontal lobe. Then, we start moving our leg to that destination. That process involves the motor cortex next to the frontal lobe. Sometimes, walking towards the girl we love involves a different brain components, a part from the three (prefrontal, frontal and motor cortex). The basal ganglia controls the motivaton to move and its coordination. However, the damage of this brain component will result in Parkinson's disease. However, when a person has the Parkinson's disease, most of the time, the cerebellum region of his brain is damaged too. The cerebellum stores routine patterns of movements. Movement also needs continuous feedback from our senses. In other words, body movements will involve many regions of the brain.

Martina Navratilova Said " I have Breast Cancer".

She's one of the legend in Tennis sport, she won 18 Grand Slam and Wimbledon. She said it was hard for her to accept the fact that she had the disease. I mean any women will say the same thing, right?? 

“I was devastated,” she told ABC television’s “Good Morning America” on being diagnosed in February, when a routine mammogram revealed a cluster in her left breast.

She also positive that she will make a full recovery. Well, it is important to stay positive in any situation.

They Say It's Your Birthday!

Like most typical young adults, Pamela loves her music: classical (Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Bach), disco, jazz, Basia, and the Beatles. Two years ago, she designated herself as the music navigator in the car. Then, she started listening to iTunes on the computer and eventually borrowing iPods from her brother or Dad. Did she ask for an iPod for her birthday? No! Pamela is way more savvy than that! She requested an iPhone. Since she rarely talks on the phone, we compromised and gave her an iPod Touch!

Autism is a funny thing because development is so scattered. Pamela is chronologically an adult, but her dynamic thinking is like a toddler. Even though she reads books at a 5th/6th grade level, she enjoys reading picture books, which are at the same level as her expressive language. On top of that, she can do one thing most people will never do: memorized calendars. She can tell you the day of the week you were born, given your birthday and year. The key to teaching a person with such varied abilities is to work in the zone of proximal development (where she is in that particular area). Her dynamic thinking, which drives her social and emotional development, did not take off until we started focusing on infant level milestones three years ago. Rather than worry about being so far behind, I am thrilled with how far she has come: instead of thinking like an infant, she thinks like a toddler!

The Friday before Pamela's birthday, Steve could not help himself. He bought an iPod Touch and could not wait until March 23 to give it to her. He decided to play a trick on Pamela by telling her he had bought a collection of DVDs instead. He kept it very short, and the moment she saw her real present, Pamela went from pulling at her shirt nervously to clasping her hands with wonder to flapping her hands while running a victory lap. The next day, the two of them shopped at Barnes and Nobles where Pamela picked up The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary to replace the battered one we bought fifteen years ago.



Monday night, Pamela's birthday eve, we invited my parents over for some cake and ice cream (all within the boundaries of her special diet). Steve had to travel on her birthday, so we celebrated it early. Birthdays generate so much excitement that Pamela plugs her ears before we start singing. We also keep our sense of humor intact for moments like Pamela opening a musical card and closing it after five seconds. Fortunately, the book A Treasury of Curious George fared better. If she does not like a present, she will express herself clearly. Fortunately, she liked all her gifts this year, except for the check from her grandparents in Louisiana, which she accidentally ripped up when opening the mail!



Her third birthday gig was on her real birthday. I brought brownies and ice cream to her watercolor class, and her classmates gave her cards and a vase of flowers! Their sweet gesture touched my heart, but Pamela was not quite sure of how to react. Since she has never received flowers before, she did not gush like a typical twenty-one-year-old female would. However, she opened the handmade card, looked at it carefully, and put it to her ear to see if it would sing to her. Later, I explained to her classmate that Pamela gets overwhelmed by presents and reacts unpredictably, sometimes, flat and underwhelmed and, at other times, flapping and overwhelmed. Her outward behavior does not always reflect how she truly feels.

All in all her birthday was wonderful!

How the Grippe Stole Easter . . . Almost

It all started Wednesday, a fine spring day. Pamela and I delivered three and twenty meals on wheels. Along the way, we met a lovely little luna moth, our first ever, and we finally understood why they enchanted Oliver so much in The Four-Story Mistake.

Near the end of our journey, my eyes grew a bit watery, but it could have been the pine pollen, coating everything until it looked like some fairy had been a little too heavy with yellow pixie dust or a giantess in T-ville had opened a bag of cornmeal that blew up in her face and covered the county. The last two houses were smoky between the occupants with a fondness for tobacco and a wood stove. I chalked it off to the remains of the day.

By the time I picked David up from school, fits of sneezing attacked me, quite capable of building six-pack abs in a few days. The drippy eyes and itchy throat pointed to seasonal allergies, so I grabbed a lemon-berry slushie from Sonic for comfort. We zipped through Wallie world for some OTC allergy medications, purchased only for the spring onslaught. [Photo Credit: Brenda at Lee's House of Monograms]

Later, I headed off to Bible study as usual with an extra supply of tissue. The sneezing grew worse, and my head began to spin ever so slightly. The rather large fellowship hall grew hotter and hotter, so I began to wonder about hot flashes. My mind wandered and I could not track the lively discussion about the book The Prodigal God. I got out of there as soon as possible, went home, and collapsed into bed.

Alternating between couch and bed, I slept until Saturday morning at noon, except for necessary duties. With Steve in Illinois through last Thursday night. . . dogs . . . David . . . noodles for Pamela . . . a load of laundry . . . dishes. . . in between head aches . . . muscle aches . . . pains . . . chills . . . fever. I made one trip to Wallie world for Edy's fruit bars (miraculous stuff), broth, chicken noodle soup, tissue, juice, and toilet paper (we were out). I belong to the old school of flu-fighting. If you have a healthy immune system, then God's little white soldiers do their duty. Fevers are for killing nasty things in your body. Eruptions of mucous are for those little nasties that can make a hasty retreat. Tiredness is to force you to stay in bed where you belong. Two to three days of absolute misery avoids two to three weeks of bronchitis. And, when the grippe grabs you Wednesday and you have to sing on Sunday, no pain, no gain!

We took things slow and easy on Saturday, doing a little in between catnaps. Before heading to bed early, I stumbled upon something on youtube that got me into the Easter spirit: recordings of Handel's Messiah with a score that scrolls along with the music. I selected the brilliant Amen chorus and could not resist softly singing the alto line which I have memorized except for a few snarky parts that these nifty little videos might solve! And beneath all that mucus lay my voice. With careful cough management, I could sing as high as an F, all that was needed for choir. I prayed to God to give me a sign at the Easter sunrise service. If I could sing the hymns without collapsing into a coughing spell, then I would take it as His blessing for singing at the indoor service.

Before dawn, I emerged out of my house, blinking like Rip van Winkle at the fairyland near my house. The pink, magenta, and red azaleas had bloomed as did the sunny Carolina jasmine. The carefully cropped wisteria waved at us, wafting its sweet perfume. The weather was picture perfect, not too hot and not too cold. The cool fresh air soothed my face. Spring had sneaked up behind my back while I was sleeping through April Fool's Day, Maundy Thursday, World Autism Day, and Good Friday.

Farm fields surround our church on three sides, so the setting was gorgeous, mist blanketed the fields, a light blue sky that blushed in the spot where the sun would debut. Just as the pastor started speaking, as if on cue, a large flock of geese flew in V-formation overhead. From time to time, cardinals and mockingbirds serenaded us, crows crackled, and cows made their presence known. Another flock of geese headed into the pink beam when the sermon began. The pastor talked about the burning hope flooding the hearts of different disciples with joy as the good news spread, and the sun appeared on the horizon, also burning and flooding our hearts. All of creation celebrated Easter with us. The birds and cows sang the last hymn, and I did too! After sharing breakfast in the fellowship hall, we headed home. Steve ran, and I recovered and felt good enough to sing with the choir. Again, singing the joyful music flooded my heart with gratitude.

In bed that night, all the blessings of this Easter washed over me. It came without candy and baskets and bunnies. It came without dresses and dinner and egg hunts. It came without feasting and parties. By the world's trappings, we had one of the worst Easters on record!

Easter is about relationships, the horizontal relationships with our dear ones. My husband did not fuss because I had no goodies. My son had patiently took on extra duties when I was too woozy to get off the couch. My daughter showed absolute resilience and compassion by not freaking out by this unexpected disruption of the holiday. We shook on it that we would color the Easter eggs on Monday (and we did). My parents who normally coordinate with us in preparing a scrumptious banquet had worn themselves out gardening, and we contented ourselves with sharing a pizza instead. My choirmates exclaimed, "We missed you Thursday and are glad you are able to sing this morning!"--particularly striking since I was the most under-dressed person in church that morning: all I had energy for was throwing on my black outfit, boots, a necklace. Makeup was beyond me.

At the formal service, our pastor spoke on our vertical relationship with God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). No matter what happens in this short, difficult life, whether it's autism, the flu, traveling husbands, etc., we have hope for a better life in eternity: not because of anything we have done. If left up to me and my ability and my accomplishments, I would be hopeless. Even though my plans for Easter amounted to nothing, Sunday was an awesome day for this reason:

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:1-6