This week's RDI newsletter

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Issue 31

May 9, 2012

B r a i n B y t e s

Autism and Antisocial Brains Differ

Complex Brains, Simple Wiring

Smart Houses?

Quick Links

RDIconnect Website

Find an RDI Consultant

RDI Certification for professionals

Where in the World is Aunt Martha?

She is in Mexico with Consultant-In-Training, Carlo Nuñez!

"Trees go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far" ~Nuir

Make a tactile map today. Draw the route ahead of time and as you find objects, tape them onto your map. These maps generate something can be shared through common memories.

In Their Own Words

Click on these links to see what RDI consultants are doing!

Amy Cameron

Breathing Underwater Podcast

Kathy Darrow

Kathy discusses RDI in an interview on Autism One Radio

Hudkins

'The RDI Mom' Blog

IsaacÂ

Understanding Autism Podcast - Broadcast live on the 2nd Monday and 2nd Monday of every monthZoe 'Food for Thought' Blog

The RDI Book

In English and Spanish!

Available through Amazon or Click here.

Good News...Amazon is now shipping the RDI Book Internationally.

Find Us

Dear Dema,

Certified Consultant, Stacey Tessis, shares the first in a two part series about how she faces the rough times, I am sending out a special invitation to those who have considered training as an RDI Consultant.

~ le Sheely, PhD

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Providing Opportunities for Competence

by Dr le Sheely

In RDI we often talk about productive uncertainty. These are small opportunities during which a child, within a safe situation, notices that the pattern with which he has become familiar has been disrupted and he will have to do something. Provided by his parents or a teacher who has learned to structure these just-noticeable-differences, the child has the opportunity to use his mind in order to resolve the problem that is confronting him.

Too often, the problems our children face jar them and create a chaotic environment for them. Or, they are presented with problems to which they are expected to generate a specific answer. Small wonder that there may be a desire to avoid these encounters.

How different the personal experience can be if children develop a sense of self that includes the pride of making decisions; they realize the power of their own neurology in solving problems. This competence is an antidote to both control and passivity.

These are the experiences our consultants help parents structure for their children. The circle of competence for consultants, parents and children provides an enjoyable volition to take on the everyday demands of the world.

We are providing these vignettes because we have been provided a couple of small scholarships for professionals interested in certification. Our next training event is coming up in June and we would love to have you join us. For more information, please contact Beth Alford. You can also read more about our professional certification here.

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Hitting a Rough Patch

by Stacey Tessis

The following is the first of two articles written by RDI Certified Consultant, Tessis, B.A., A.T.C. Stacey is a Parenting Coach and has been an RDI® Program Certified Consultant since 2008. Stacey has a private practice in Toronto, Canada, and works with clients as far away as Greece. You can reach Stacey at stessis@...

It's hard to believe that only a few weeks ago, I was taking full advantage of the beautiful summer-like weather. I had every window in my house open and was

RDI Consultant, Stacey Tessis

encouraging my son to accompany me and the dog on extra-long walks...to the ice-cream shop. It wasn't a hard sell.

Now that the cooler weather has returned, I am feelingsome regret. No, it's not because I ate record amounts of ice cream and have to squeeze myself back into my winter clothes! The truth is that I'm concerned that I had my winter tires taken off, and we are surely due for at least one more snowfall, which is typical for this time of year here in Canada.

I don't tend to worry or get stressed out about driving in the snow like some people do. My car handles really well, and I have confidence in its winter tires, ABS breaks and four-wheel drive system. But on the rare occasion that I hit a patch of black ice, I realize that I had been lulled into a false sense of security. I can hear the ABS breaks engage, but now my car is slowly skidding towards the middle of the intersection, no longer in my control. Thankfully, this has only happened on a side street, and there were no other cars there at the time.

These instances remind me to drive carefully and to give myself lots of time to break as I approach an intersection, but I don't live in fear of the next patch of ice.

The same goes for how I live my life. Maybe that's why I'm always caught a little bit off guard when I hit a rough patch, or more specifically, when my son hits a rough patch. We seem to be motoring along to the cheeriest of Top 40 pop songs and then the road gets kind of bumpy and we're suddenly inundated with AC/DC. Not my favorite genre of music, but I can handle it in small doses.

read more...

Next Back to Back Seminars for RDI

Certification in Houston, TX

Beginning Seminar - June 19-22, 2012

Intermediate Seminar - June 25-28, 2012

Visit our website or contact Beth Alford