Re: RPM & ABA

[Guest guest]

Thank you for this post, Trina. My son is 4 and can only do one-word

utterances most of the time. Most of these have to be prompted. I would

love to know his thoughts and feelings!

I've read about RPM and would love for my son to learn it. As soon as he

learns to read, we're going to look into it. Any good advice on how to

teach him to read? Can I start now?

Also, there is a manual online at www.strangeson.com for what they call the

Informative Pointing Method, which I assume is very close to Soma's Rapid

Prompting Method, since Soma taught them.

Marilyn

Re: Cross post: CT-FEAT Newsletter

>

> I agree that ABA and VB are very effective for certain groups of persons

> with Autism. By no means does this or should this imply that every non

> verbal child will have very communicative speech if you do this method.

> How do I know? I know several families that did ABA and VB for years for

> up to and over 40 hours per week. When those children where taught to

> use a letterboard to communicate completely independently with no one

> holding their hand or elbow they said and I quote.... " I want to talk,

> I've tried to talk but I cannot " . One child with some verbal speech

> spelled " I can talk but it's hard and sometimes it comes out wrong " . I

> believe that for some children there is something going on in the brain

> that makes it physically impossible for these children to utter more

> than a word or two even with years and many hours of ABA, RDI and VB.

> When speech does not come (I'm saying expressive language not one word

> answers to concrete questions and requests) it does not mean the door

> closes nor does it mean that your doing ABA incorrectly. The focus

> should always be on communication of some sort and the sooner

> specialists, BCBA's included, and speech therapists can discern which

> children will not succeed simply with ABA therapy the better. IMO. I've

> seen very aggressive children and adults calm down and learn in the

> space of a few days using the principles of RPM developed by Soma

> Mukapadahay right here in Austin at the HALO clinic. When given a voice

> on the letterboard they finally have a way to express themselves in much

> more detail than they can physically verbally express. My son did well

> with ABA and VB but was not included in academic classes until we

> started using RPM as his mode of communication and test taking.

> " Education leads to communication " (Soma) and that communication may be

> on a letterboard or computer or written. I want to encourage parents out

> there that scientific research is needed on RPM and several people are

> interested in helping that happen. Additionally a RPM manual is in

> publication and it will be yet another tool to use in addition to ABA,

> VB and RDI to help our children reach their fullest potential. For just

> as there is likely not one cause of Autism there is likely not one

> technique that will encompass all the physical, psychological, and

> biological complexities of our unique individuals. So to conclude I will

> tell you I have space in my program for RPM, ABA, VB and RDI and my only

> regret was that I didn't start RPM when my son was younger in addition

> to the 35 hour a week ABA program I did for many years.

> I don't write books, I don't write manuals, I don't do scientific double

> blind studies, but I'm a good listener and I listen when silent children

> tell me they are frustrated by our society's insistence that they speak

> when they physically cannot make words come out. RPM gave my son a

> complete voice and my personal study will be to see if by using the

> letterboard and the practice of RPM my son begins to have more

> expressive verbal language. I'll let you know, keep up the good fight.

> It's never too late to learn.

> All my best to you!

> Trina

[Guest guest]

Hi Marilyn,

We are clients of Soma's as well. Although Soma is not a member here

yet, she asked if I would forward this reply on her behalf:

Dear Marilyn,

I am Soma Mukhopadhyay. And 'Strange Son' was a part of us- me and

Tito. But who said I taught RPM to anyone other than the RPM trainees

who come to the clinic to do the 4 day training with a

'hand-on-learning' way?

I was just evolving RPM while I lived in LA. The author of Strange Son

'saw' my work with 'just 9 children' who were allotted to me for

the fellowship I got. Its pre-historic and back dated. I was

experimenting with my method back then trying to make it better.

9 children's success does not count at all. Otherwise I would have put

forth a 'quick fix' RPM manual 3 years back.

Only when I became sure of what I am doing and why I am doing, after

working with 900 children , did I 'dare' to write my manual.

The story of my manual is something.

I speak Bengali and although my son writes, but I have no great

writing skill.

Naturally I made huge grammar-mistakes. Those mistakes needed to be

corrected.

So my manual got pushed from one desk to another and today, thanks to

my board members at HALO who took the task of bringing it out. Now if

there is any grammar mistake- tell you what - not my fault.

But you may not find any mistake in the 'whys and whats' kind of

information because it is tested not just with 9 children but 900+.

Its 250+ pages long and has lesson plans.

You want to start RPM at 4 years? 4 or 40 - any age can begin RPM.

Because learning pathways in the brain happen even when we are 90. My

oldest client is 50.

RPM is exciting. Not because I developed it, but because it keeps me

motivated to learn more and improve it. I am learning everyday as I work.

-

Soma Mukhopadhyay

>

> Thank you for this post, Trina. My son is 4 and can only do one-word

> utterances most of the time. Most of these have to be prompted. I

would

> love to know his thoughts and feelings!

> I've read about RPM and would love for my son to learn it. As soon

as he

> learns to read, we're going to look into it. Any good advice on how to

> teach him to read? Can I start now?

> Also, there is a manual online at www.strangeson.com for what they

call the

> Informative Pointing Method, which I assume is very close to Soma's

Rapid

> Prompting Method, since Soma taught them.

>

> Marilyn

>

> Re: Cross post: CT-FEAT Newsletter

>

>

> >

> > I agree that ABA and VB are very effective for certain groups of

persons

> > with Autism. By no means does this or should this imply that every non

> > verbal child will have very communicative speech if you do this

method.

> > How do I know? I know several families that did ABA and VB for

years for

> > up to and over 40 hours per week. When those children where taught to

> > use a letterboard to communicate completely independently with no one

> > holding their hand or elbow they said and I quote.... " I want to talk,

> > I've tried to talk but I cannot " . One child with some verbal speech

> > spelled " I can talk but it's hard and sometimes it comes out wrong " . I

> > believe that for some children there is something going on in the

brain

> > that makes it physically impossible for these children to utter more

> > than a word or two even with years and many hours of ABA, RDI and VB.

> > When speech does not come (I'm saying expressive language not one word

> > answers to concrete questions and requests) it does not mean the door

> > closes nor does it mean that your doing ABA incorrectly. The focus

> > should always be on communication of some sort and the sooner

> > specialists, BCBA's included, and speech therapists can discern which

> > children will not succeed simply with ABA therapy the better. IMO.

I've

> > seen very aggressive children and adults calm down and learn in the

> > space of a few days using the principles of RPM developed by Soma

> > Mukapadahay right here in Austin at the HALO clinic. When given a

voice

> > on the letterboard they finally have a way to express themselves

in much

> > more detail than they can physically verbally express. My son did well

> > with ABA and VB but was not included in academic classes until we

> > started using RPM as his mode of communication and test taking.

> > " Education leads to communication " (Soma) and that communication

may be

> > on a letterboard or computer or written. I want to encourage

parents out

> > there that scientific research is needed on RPM and several people are

> > interested in helping that happen. Additionally a RPM manual is in

> > publication and it will be yet another tool to use in addition to ABA,

> > VB and RDI to help our children reach their fullest potential. For

just

> > as there is likely not one cause of Autism there is likely not one

> > technique that will encompass all the physical, psychological, and

> > biological complexities of our unique individuals. So to conclude

I will

> > tell you I have space in my program for RPM, ABA, VB and RDI and

my only

> > regret was that I didn't start RPM when my son was younger in addition

> > to the 35 hour a week ABA program I did for many years.

> > I don't write books, I don't write manuals, I don't do scientific

double

> > blind studies, but I'm a good listener and I listen when silent

children

> > tell me they are frustrated by our society's insistence that they

speak

> > when they physically cannot make words come out. RPM gave my son a

> > complete voice and my personal study will be to see if by using the

> > letterboard and the practice of RPM my son begins to have more

> > expressive verbal language. I'll let you know, keep up the good fight.

> > It's never too late to learn.

> > All my best to you!

> > Trina

>

[Guest guest]

How cool. I look forward to reading Soma's manual.

But still, my son would have to learn to read first, right?

> Hi Marilyn,

> We have been clients of Soma's for a few years as well. I told Soma

> about your question here and though she is not a member here yet,she

> wanted to reply to your question so here is her reply:

>

>

>

> Dear Marilyn,

> I am Soma Mukhopadhyay. And 'Strange Son' was a part of us- me and

> Tito. But who said I taught RPM to anyone other than the RPM trainees

> who come to the clinic to do the 4 day training with a

> 'hand-on-learning' way?

> I was just evolving RPM while I lived in LA. The author of Strange Son

> 'saw' my work with 'just 9 children' who were allotted to me for

> the fellowship I got. Its pre-historic and back dated. I was

> experimenting with my method back then trying to make it better.

> 9 children's success does not count at all. Otherwise I would have put

> forth a 'quick fix' RPM manual 3 years back.

> Only when I became sure of what I am doing and why I am doing, after

> working with 900 children , did I 'dare' to write my manual.

>

> The story of my manual is something.

> I speak Bengali and although my son writes, but I have no great

> writing skill.

>

> Naturally I made huge grammar-mistakes. Those mistakes needed to be

> corrected.

> So my manual got pushed from one desk to another and today, thanks to

> my board members at HALO who took the task of bringing it out. Now if

> there is any grammar mistake- tell you what - not my fault.

> But you may not find any mistake in the 'whys and whats' kind of

> information because it is tested not just with 9 children but 900+.

> Its 250+ pages long and has lesson plans.

>

> You want to start RPM at 4 years? 4 or 40 - any age can begin RPM.

> Because learning pathways in the brain happen even when we are 90. My

> oldest client is 50.

> RPM is exciting. Not because I developed it, but because it keeps me

> motivated to learn more and improve it. I am learning everyday as I work.

> -

> Soma Mukhopadhyay

[Guest guest]

Also, the child has to be seven to see Soma, doesn't he?

Thanks!

Marilyn

[Guest guest]

Very true, never too late.

My son has already had his 3rd session with Soma and I am still in

shock to observe how much she was able to work with him. My son is

older, just turn 20 y/o this past July.

My son is severely MR, pretty tactile defensive(SPD), Non-vocal, etc.

Yes, under the autism spectrum.

The only reason why I ended up taking my son out to HALO was due to

one of my friends who ended up meeting Portia Iversen the other mom

(author/speaker)who Soma hooked up with, mentioned on the site already

shared here on the listserve.

http://www.strangeson.com/

My friend & her family were out at the San Diego airport enroute back

home to SA. from vacation. Portia had approached her, ended up

chatting away then Portia had shared about the RPM program to her.

Once my friend settled in at home, she could not wait to share this

with me and told me about meeting a lady who mentioned about a

wonderful program, she could not remember her name.

I of course immediately asked her, did her name sound like Portia? She

just loved it that I was aware of it and well of course ask about my

opinion due to her child's challenging behaviors similar to my son's.

Told her I have been wondering if my son benefit from the RPM program

when I have heard Portia at a conference before who shared some

wonderful information which I was pretty impressed, believe it was

probably like about 3 years ago.

My friend wanted to head out to Austin but told her about the process,

joining the HALO site and register online, etc. and she told me that I

better do the same so that we could try to get their appointments set

for the same days and travel together. Told her alright, not thinking

that it was going to already happen that fast as I received the call

to set my son up.

Well, sure enough with the first session, can not believe knowing how

much my son knows. He just had his 3rd session, he is now using the

pencil to point and spelling out and responding with some of the math

skills too.

First session, he did not want anything to do with the pencil or the

letter board but that Soma was able to work around him.

Loved it when she had asked him towards the end of the session if he

wanted mom to ask any questions about this session? He told her " NO " ,

he responded with " Who are you?, What can we learn next? "

Soma had asked him something about why does he stim?

Because " Not in the mood or is it because I'm doing my rituals " .

His respond to her was " Because I'm doing my rituals " .

I did call my friend when I had received the first HALO call and

called her to see if she had also, then she told me " no " , had not even

register yet. It is understandable though, her child is younger than

mine and still dealing with the severe challenging behavior issues and

thensome, but won't be long.

Well, now that we have begun this journey. I am very impressed and

still in awe as I am a huge ABA fan where my son has benefit from it

as well and now to have a taste of this program. Soma is just an

amazing person, she has that gift.

Thanks to all who continues sharing about the RPM program.

Irma