Hi Fay.

I hate it too that it is becoming less accessible rather than more.

We just paid $450 (discount for paying for an entire year up front) for the RDI OS system. But I know our consultant, too, has had families drop over this.

Our consultant raised her fees too which puts her more in line with other consultants (and her help has been invaluable to us) but is way more than we've been paying. All in all RDI is going to be impossible for us if insurance doesn't come through.

However. I do want to say that unlike Greenspan/floortime RDI is constantly changing and adapting and researching (which I hope now that it has journal published, peer reviewed research it will be covered by insurances like ABA is), and etc. They spend a lot of money. And the RDI OS system is neat. Not neat enough for $450 or $600 a year/I could do without. But it is helpful...lots of education and videos and the entire new RDI system with new goals and such. I can't see RDI as it stands now being something where they could publish a book and you could teach yourself like floortime. It's more complicated. Which is good and bad. It's more comprehensive and individual than floortime but also much more confusing to learn.

But I do hear you. It makes me sad too. And I feel like it is now priced out of the reach of even more people (including maybe us which will really be a bummer for Andrew...who like your son has really benefited). The program is fantastic. Our consultant is great. Gutstein not so much.

:

 

Agreed. That's a big part of why we ultimately abandoned it.

 

Wow, that is rediculous

Especially after some consultants are non-profit or helping their clients cut costs. That is terrible that rdi has become so commercialized. I get emails from RDI and they are all commercialized and about dr. Gutstein. The emails usually aren't helpful about info. about autism, more about RDI, blah, blah. I found RDI to be very hard to understand as well. I think that it is helpful for some though as many people seemed to be helped by it. I have read many of Dr. Greenspan's books and find them excellent, easy to understand, empathetic toward the parent and child and helpful and practical. I must say that I'm much more floortime now than RDI. I don't think RDI is all bad either though.

 

I'm doing RDI activities with Bede without a consultant. We looked into getting a consultant in November of last year and ultimately decided against it for several reasons: the extra cost, the web-only video access, and the lack of a drive-distance-close consultant.

I prefer to watch video on my television, and to be able to drive to visits (even if it's an hour or more, the closest to us was 6 hours) and to pay for services I actually, you know, use.

Pity.

We'll keep using RDI recipes in our Floortime kitchen, thanks

 

x

 

Hi, Everyone.

My daughter was diagnosed with autism at 2 1/2 years of age back in 2006. A few months after the diagnosis, someone suggested that I look into RDI, which I did. I visited the website but was turned off by its blatant commercialism. I did buy 2 of Dr. Gutstein's books, however, and I thought they were very helpful. Then last November I attended a conference in VA on Dr. Greenspan's DIR Model [which includes among its techniques, Floor Time]. I would have to disagree with one of the responses posted in which it is suggested that Dr. Gutstein provides more current information than Dr. Greenspan: that's just the perception that you get when you read Dr. Gutstein's marketing materials. Yes, in Dr. Gutstein's camp they conduct much research, but Dr. Greenspan is a prolific writer and there is an enormous amount of work being performed by researchers and practitioners alike who practice the principles of the DIR model. Unlike the RDI camp, however, there is more information-sharing with the public in the DIR/Floor Time camp [and for a much lower price tag].

If you take a look at the ICDL.com website, you'll find a sleuth of materials on the subjects of child development and autism, and the research hypotheses and findings on the subject. If you want to learn more by interacting with professionals in the field, who possess much tacit knowledge, you can participate in their training sessions, which, again, are considerably less expensive than the training offered through RDI.

If we are to make any breakthroughs in helping our children with autism, what we need is collaboration and knowledge-sharing among researchers and practitioners on the subject of autism, not hoarders who will try to sell it to families for a very hefty price, despite knowing full well that these families are already exhausting resources for many of the other therapies and supports that their children need. I find that approach rather opportunistic.

I am happy to say that at home, through the principles of Dr. Greenspan's DIR model, we have worked with our child and have made great progress. We have used the Affect-Based Language Curriculum to develop the objectives and strategies for each month. Thank God for Dr. Greenspan!

 

I am new to all this, and was hopeful about maybe using RDI soon in teh future, but I am appalled and sickend by this crass and blatant gouging.

I, like the other posters, have been immensely impressed with Dr. Greenspan.

One poster said they attended a conference in VA (near Greenspan's offices in Maryland). That conference is now available starting tomorrow online in 15 1 hour segments for those unable to travel, etc. You can watch them anytime you want for 2 weeks.

I personally am signing up. It does cost $175, but to me it's worth it, as you can watch them at your leisure and don't have to travel. There is also online question and answer. Very reasonable IMHO.

Here is a link if anyone else is interested:

http://www.icdl.com/conferences/other/index.shtml

 

Unfortunately, that has always been a big part of RDI. What a lot of therapists are doing is doing "RDI-based" therapy (and having the parents pick up the $20 book from Amazon instead of the $600 stuff). Basically they will follow the premise of RDI without calling it RDI.

There is no reason to spend hundreds on RDI (and the creators know that.)--it's easy for parents to pick up the manual and learn to do it themselves. Brandon's therapist actually met the creators of it, and he said for the most part, the individuals taking the money aren't even all that qualified to begin with (also read: They have no more qualifications than the average person does--there is a small handful on the team that are actually licensed/qualified, but for the most part, most people on the consulting team are just average everyday limited-qualification people).

 

You know, I am not going to bash floortime. I liked it a lot when we did it and see its strengths. Without any doubt it helped my son--especially in sharing experiences and emotions and play skills--and it is much less costly.
It is also more simple and easy to do yourself.

AllyRae, I'm not sure what members of the consulting team you're talking about not having extra qualifications? A therapist who is not a certified consultant trying to blend what they've learned about RDI in with other therapies is not going to be RDI. I just don't see how that is possible. And in fact RDI is not like the books out there on amazon at this time nor has it been for quite a while.

Which is one thing I want to clear up RDI is not a read a manual and do it yourself thing. First, there isn't a manual. Second, there are literally thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of areas. I really don't know how many but right now we're in stage 2 and working on objective 1517. And no one who isn't using the current system would know what those are or how comprehensive it is. I'm using the current system. I would still be lost without my consultant. I didn't have that sense at all with floortime.

Could it be more accesible? Yes. I think Gutstein is a control freak though more than a money making machine actually. I, too, think collaboration and information sharing would benefit everyone more. And instead of it moving more in that direction it is moving even more toward controlled sources. And that stinks and makes me angry. But it still is a very good approach and I believe from my experiences it is the most comprehensive. I will say though that I was self taught floortime with no consultant/therapist so I probably can't really speak to floortime's scope anymore than someone who isn't certified or using a consultant in RDI can speak to the scope of RDI. And the way it is structured right now (which is a legitimate complaint) there is no way to learn it without going the full consultant route. RDI might not be the best for any individual child and floortime is an excellent program and is better actually in certain areas whereas RDI is better in others. I really believe that. A meld is probably actually the best thing--it would be wonderful actually--but that is never going to happen as neither greenspan nor gutstein would be open to that.

And for any of us to really know what that would look like and the real differences in the programs you'd have to have a current certified RDI consultant who has also been certifed in floortime willing to talk about it. (our therapist fits that bill actually). Or a parent who is in the current RDI program who was heavily in floortime recently too. I'm not that person; and I don't know if anyone else visiting this board is either.

Because our insurance pays for RDI therapist it is actually no more expensive than OT for us.

 

I guess it depends who you talk to Rachelle. My son's therapist is a nationally recognized autism expert and he actually sat in on several of the workshops for the original RDI and the current one--I'm not talking about local workshops--I'm talking about the expensive national training workshops. And he said that despite the fact that the workshops were extremely expensive, the people doing the training had absolutely no clinical qualifications. So basically clinicians were being required to participate in expensive training sessions given by people who were not educationally or clinically qualified to even be training other professional psychologists and counselors.

Now, I don't have a problem with undegreed individuals doing training--what I do have a problem with is requiring people to spend hundreds of dollars and not disclose that they will be trained by someone with very limited qualifications. Add to it the fact that there are people advertising RDI programs who have never been certified in the first place, and you can see where this problem goes...

I completely agree that the theory behind RDI is good, and the program is very comprehensive. I'm well-versed in RDI as a professional in the field and a mother of an autistic child. However, I have a major problem with the way the program is run with the "higher ups". (I don't have any problems with how the program is run as a therapy program...meaning most clinicians using RDI with their clients are likely doing a darn fine job of it).

 

I love the RDIos online resource. We pay $75 for 3 months at a time. I find it entertaining and relaxing to listen to the webinars.

BTW, does anyone know why there hasn't been any new archived webinars for over a month now?

Here in Australia, I tried to find a consultant but they all wanted $9000! We were outraged - it's unethical to rip off struggling autism families. We almost gave up until we were advised by someone to get an American one who comes to Oz, who has a great reputation and is reasonably priced.

I want to hear more about the similarities and differences between Floortime and RDI - I'll start a new thread; please come over and join in!

 

AllyRae, I see. I've never been to any conferences (I assume he's talking about the yearly conference...) so I can't speak to that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllyRae Unfortunately, that has always been a big part of RDI. What a lot of therapists are doing is doing "RDI-based" therapy (and having the parents pick up the $20 book from Amazon instead of the $600 stuff). Basically they will follow the premise of RDI without calling it RDI. There is no reason to spend hundreds on RDI (and the creators know that.)--it's easy for parents to pick up the manual and learn to do it themselves.

I do want to caution you though that if this therapist is telling you that a therapist doing what you describe above is like RDI as it is now but less expensive or that there is no reason to spend the money to have a certified consultant as you can learn it yourself by getting the amazon book..he's wrong. That I'm sure of. It is impossible because the materials aren't out there.

And that (that the materials aren't out there to even try; that others can't add to the conversation and approach because it isn't collaborative) is the real criticism of RDI. And a legitimate one.

As a side note: I do think you could get the old RDI book and apply it to a floortime approach and make a lot of progress/add a lot. And you wouldn't need a consultant to do that. And a therapist not trained in RDI could do it too and benefit his/her clients. But it wouldn't be RDI as it is now or as it was even two years ago when we started. Does that matter to a particular child or family making progress on their own? Nope!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbgrace As a side note: I do think you could get the old RDI book and apply it to a floortime approach and make a lot of progress/add a lot. And you wouldn't need a consultant to do that. And a therapist not trained in RDI could do it too and benefit his/her clients. But it wouldn't be RDI as it is now or as it was even two years ago when we started. Does that matter to a particular child or family making progress on their own? Nope!

And that's exactly it. For some (and maybe even most), it's a combination approach that will work the best, so taking the old book (or even a lot of the old principles) and combining it with floortime, ABA, sensory integration, etc. can provide a really comprehensive model. (Then again, I'm a big fan of Ocali's Comprehensive Model combined with the Ziggurat model--those two things actually leave room for you to add the parts of RDI that work for your child).

Sadly, autism is very profitable right now and it's getting to the point that the children that these interventions are aimed at are being left out due to the cost being too high. Every few months, there's a new intervention approach introduced and suddenly that approach becomes very profitable as well. It's a sad thing that the interventions that are becoming the most useful are also becoming out of reach (I know many children that would benefit from ABA but can't afford the $100 an hour, etc.). Medicaid, etc. won't pay for many non-ABA therapies, and so even though RDI may be the best thing in the world (for some kids), the very high cost burden the parents face with it are prohibative. I remember the days when RDI had a parent training DVD program so parents could learn to do it on their own and that was all that was required besides to attend a training session or two and consult with a provider (if they could afford the DVD program). Now parents are forced to spend hundreds a month on the therapy plus hundreds a year for outside training, etc.