Relationship Development Intervention with Children, Adolescents and Adults. [Paperback]

But personally disappointing. As a thirty-year-old who has been diagnosed with both Asperger's Syndrome and NLD, I picked this up at an ASA conference expecting to find it immediately useful. Instead, I took the test at the back (which is designed for caregivers/administrators, not adults on the spectrum... why can't they do simple rewrites so we don't have to?), only to find out that I tested out as to relationally immature for this book, and should refer to the previous one in the series. Which is recommended for use with children under 8, and whose activities are decidedly not age appropriate, nor can I find a way to re-write them enough to make them so. A warning, though: RDI significantly changes the personality of the person who goes through it. In a young child, this may not be noticeable or unwanted, but in an older child or adult, you may wish to ask their permission before putting them through this very thorough and intrusive therapy. As an adult, I am uncomfortable with the changes I saw produced in people who have gone through it, and would not consider it for myself. I like the personality I have, quirks, prickles, and all. Novotni's book, "What Does Everybody Else Know That I Don't" was more immediately useful, as it contained some precise suggestions on things to do or ask that did not involve extreme changes in personality or behavior.

There still exists a major gap in literature on relational development for ADULTS on the spectrum, since even those of us who are "high-functioning" tend to be low-functioning socially. While Gutstein's Solving the Relationship Puzzle, and Gutstein and Sheely's RDI book I'm currently reviewing have shown me what developmental milestones I have yet to cross, they don't provide any practical solutions for someone my age to begin the process... unless we're already at an intermediate level I, at least, have failed to achieve.

The caveat to this is that I expect this and it's companion book to be more useful for young children, and have recommended reading them to the parents of several children that I work with as a Respite/Habilitative Care Provider and to professionals at a school for developmentally disabled children where I work as a Classroom Aide. I have found ways to modify the activities in the first book to be suitable for children up into their early teens, and recommend use of this book as a follow-up for those who have mastered the activities in book 1.

I read this book thinking it "sounded" good but how could I use the info its seems quite complex and overwhelming. THen I attended one of Dr G's conferences and realized the book was never meant to stand alone!!! It is needed to progress and have a reference for the stages as you do them but RDI requires coaching and support. Ill tell you from me and many families who have done it, it has been the one thing that finally tackles the issues no other methodology can!!! We have been doing it for merely 2 months with an agency certifying throught DR G's practice and we have experienced spine tingling miracles. Most importantly it has made my daughter EASY to take ANYWHERE better than any ABA or VB has. In all honesty we have used many different methods, PRT, ABA, DIR-Floortime, Incidental Learning, You name it weve been there. But the commonality is that they still all allow the child to stay in their comfort zone- they are basically child centered approaches. This method MAKES your child come out of their shell, forces them through mutual enjoyment and love for the interaction to allow themselves to be lead.
The residual of all of the other methods was that they left my child having a hard time KEEPING friends due to her need to control situations (PRT and flootime) or be depended on adults to always allow for things to happen (ABA). THis changes all of it!! Not only is she beginning to appreciate and read social cues in just the mere first level of this method, but she is asking more age appropriate why questions and asking about things that happened to her when she was NONVERBAL!!! Her school is on board and wanting to do this and we know we cant stop. I highly recomend looking at this book and then going to a conference or purchasing their video, or even check out their website. (connectionscenter.com)YOU HAVE TO SEE IT IN ACTION!! And My prayers and blessings of frutiion to all!!!

In response to one of the reviews below I have to note that this program is in fact based on a very detailed and comprehensive theory. In fact it is more firmly grounded in current thinking in developomental psychology and recent research on how social development evolves, than most work in this field. Gutstein looks at both typically and atypically developing kids and doesn't base his theory only on working with autistic children. This, in my mind is the key flaw of many other approaches in this field (e.g. ABA) which base none of their approaches on how typical kids develop these skills.

In fact, Gutstein's theory is among the most coherent in the field and, as always, the question is whether the resultant interventions really follow from it and work. There is recent (2005) peer reviewed research suggesting some very significant positive outcomes for RDI, but it, like all autism research, has its flaws. Also, I have to agree that, of the two "intervention" books he has written, this one has less meat to it and is less immediately useful than the one for young children.

Gutstein's theory is laid out exceptionally well in another book - "Autism-Aspergers: Solving the Relationship Puzzle" which for some reason Amazon doesn't carry! I would say that book is an absolute must-read to understand this one, or the terms (e.g. master-apprentice) which have a very specific meaning to Gutstein will make no sense to you. For more info I would also suggest going to their wesbite at [...]