No more official RDI

Craig and I have decided to stop doing formal RDI. Not because Jake is ready, but because we do not feel that the new RDI system is addressing his needs. We loved old RDI and the old stages and objectives. We started this journey 2 1/2 years ago when it was the old system and got through stage 3 of it before transferring to the new system. At first we liked the new system. It was very polished looking, the OS is cool, and we went to the RDI annual conference in San Diego the August before the new RDI system was launched. The annual conference sparked a renewed dedication to RDI in us. But, the reality is that we have spent just over a year doing new RDI and we have felt frustrated and felt this horrible sense of guilt because we know we do not do enough RDI with him and that is because we have a hard time wrapping our minds around the new objectives. To us they seem very discreete and do not have that whole life application that the old ones did. We have gone through many objectives in the new RDI system and mastered many. We are about 1/2 way through stage 5 and he also has some mastered in stage 6. But, we feel that the progress we have seen has been really minimal. I would not, however, let this discourage anyone else. Perhaps this is unique to our family. But, looking back at the old RDI objectives we have not made any progress according to those from where we have left off. And, to make our decision about this easier, the area where we left off (flexibility) is the area we struggle with the most with Jake. If we could conquer flexibility issues we would have a different child on our hands. Now, he is not as rigid as some, but he can be pretty rigid. For example, going on an 8 day vacation to Walt Disney World doesn't throw him off a bit (HUGE variation) but fixing his grilled cheese on bread that looks different spurs a bunch of whining (minor variation). So, we have work to do. We have decided to go back and do old RDI on our own. The consultants cannot do old RDI with people. They are required to implement new RDI, but even so, our consultant says that we wouldn't need her anyway b/c we are experienced and we get this. She feels very confident in our abilities to do this. In addition, we are going to incorporate some of the Social Thinking program by Michelle Winner. I have a lot of organizing and planning to do to get this plan of ours rolling. We are starting on the flexibility already....actually we started right before we left to Florida and we are getting a lot of resistance from Jake. But, we know from experience that resistance = learning with him. I will continue to advocate for RDI. I think in the early stages of new RDI things are still great. It is when you get to stage 4/5ish that I feel the objectives start to lose sight of the core deficits of autism IMHO. I've looked at the early stage objectives and they look very good. So, if you are reading this and your child is in stage 1-3 keep doing what you are doing! If your child is stage 4-5+ and it is working for YOU then that is all that matters. Each child and each family is so different. But, if you are in stage 4-5+ and feel stuck then know that you aren't alone and that it took a long time for us to decide to jump ship and go about this in a different way.