Relationship
Development
Intervention
Jackie Zaldua, M.A.
RDI Consultant
Contact Jackie to schedule
a free RDI presentation for your practice or agency.
If you have a child or teen with autism, RDI can help!
RDI was developed in order to address areas that were sorely missing in traditional therapies; most importantly RDI fosters your child's ability to form meaningful relationships.
Jackie Zaldua will guide you in remediating your child's autism using a developmental and relationship based approach that targets hundreds of objectives and developmental milestones, including developing your child's:
Are you interested in learning how you can use every day activities in a way that supports the remediation of autism for your child? It's never too late. Contact Jackie today to learn more about how RDI can help.
RDI Flyer.doc
NEWS:
Jackie Is able to provide RDI services through "Deryl Goldenberg Psychological Corporation" via the California West Los Angeles Regional Center and Lanterman Regional Center.
Jackie received her Non-Violent Crisis Prevention Intervention Trainer Certification in July 2011. She is now able to train staff and parents at VHAP in NCPI techniques.
EVENTS:
February 10, 2012 (8:00am-3:30pm)
Student Education Development Fund presents an informative lecture with Dr. George McCloskey
Coping With Aspergers By Building a Better Brain: Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties
For more info: http://www.sedfund.org/
February 21, 2012 (Webinar 11:00am-12:00pm)
The Glendon Association presents a webinar with parenting expert Dr. Tina Payne Bryson
Whole-Brain Child: Practical Strategies to Surf Your Child’s Emotional Tsunamis & Develop Their Minds
For more info: www.glendon.org or copy and paste the following link:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/island/webinar/registration.tmpl?id=912744905
February 25, 2012 (2:00pm and 7:00pm)
A Documentary Film Premiere Screening: "My Thiero Boys: A Lifestyle Dealing with Autism
CAP Theater 13752 Venura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, Ca
91423
RSVP at Info_MyThieroBoys.com
For more info: mythieroboys.com
LINKS:
Verdugo Hills Autism Project
Psych-Alive
RDI Connections Center
Autism Remediation for Our Children Blog
Alert Program: How Does Your Engine Run?
RECOMMENDED READING:
The RDI Book By Steven E. Gutstein, Ph.D. (A must read)
The Explosive Child By Ross W. Greene, Ph.D.
The First Relationship By Daniel N. Stern
Apprenticship In Thinking By Barbara Rogoff
The Cradle of Thought By Peter Hobson
Relationship Development Intervention (RDI®) was developed in order to add something to the intervention puzzle that had been sorely missing, THE RELATIONSHIP FACTOR. It empowers parents by giving them a second chance to “re-do” the relationship with their child. The RDI® consultant guides parents in remediating the core deficits of autism using every day activities and emphasizes the step by step growth of the child across developmental milestones.
RDI will be beneficial to any age group and for a wide range of functioning levels. A key concept in RDI is that there is not a critical period for intervention. The brain is capable of growth at any age.
Parents are asked to seek treatment for co-occurring disorders in order to ensure that their child is able to receive the maximum benefits from RDI® intervention.
RDI teaches parents:
During the initial interview, the consultant meets with both parents together in order to learn about their child's and families needs.
The consultant will learn about:
The consultant will discuss your families readiness for RDI and may review the RDI parent and child objectives with you.
PAYMENT OPTIONS:
Jackie provides services through West Los Angeles Regional Center and Lanterman Regional Center through Dr. Deryl Goldenberg Psychological Corporation at Verdugo Hills Autism Project.
Jackie provides private pay options for families. Please call or email to learn more.
This is an intervention planning instrument designed to help professionals develop customized relationship development programs for their clients. RDA provides an analysis of the child’s critical deficits and this facilitates formulating developmentally appropriate objectives and approaches. It provides information about each client’s capacity to initiate, maintain play and participate in reciprocal relationships.
At the conclusion of the assessment, a treatment plan is developed given the child’s assessed developmental stage and issues. A schedule of sessions is agreed upon and parents complete videotaped homework assignments in which they reflect on their work with their child. Parents submit the video and assignment for review via a private RDI online system. The videotaping and parent reflections are powerful tools to support the parents in becoming more competent in their role as the main therapeutic agents facilitating their child’s remediation program.
Children with autism have problems in three crucial areas of development: — social interaction, language and behavior. These children have trouble communicating, applying what they know in everyday life and adjusting in social situations. Symptoms include:
Social skills
Fails to respond to his or her name
Has poor eye contact
Appears not to hear you at times
Resists cuddling and holding
Appears unaware of others' feelings
Prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her "own world"
Language
Starts talking later than age 2
Loses previously acquired ability to say words or sentences
Doesn't make eye contact when making requests
Speaks with an abnormal tone or rhythm —(singsong or robot-like)
Can't start a conversation or keep one going
May repeat words, but doesn't understand how to use them
Difficulty sharing experiences with others. When read to, for example, they're unlikely to point at pictures in the book. This early-developing social skill is crucial to later language and social development.
Behavior
Performs repetitive movements, (rocking, spinning, hand flapping)
Develops specific routines or rituals
Becomes disturbed at the slightest change in routines or rituals
Moves constantly
May be fascinated by parts of an object (spinning toy wheels)
May be unusually sensitive to light, sound & touch
May be oblivious to pain
Your doctor may recommend further developmental tests if your child:
Doesn't babble or coo by 12 months
Doesn't gesture — such as point or wave — by 12 months
Doesn't say single words by 16 months
Doesn't say two-word phrases by 24 months
Loses previously acquired language or social skills at any age
In order for RDI to be effective, co-occurring disorders need to be addressed and treated. Your RDI consultant may refer to you a developmental pediatrician to ensure your child's needs are addressed.
Some of co-occurring disorders that occur with autism include:
Epilepsy or seizure disorder—: Nearly one-third of those with autism show signs of epilepsy by adulthood.
Tuberous sclerosis—: About 6 percent of those with autism have this Tuberous sclerosis which shares many symptoms with autism, including seizures that result from lesions on the brain.
Fragile X syndrome: Nearly 2.1 percent of those with autism have Fragile X, the most common inherited form of intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD): —About 25 percent of persons with autism also have some degree of IDD.
Sleep disorders, allergies and digestive problems are also common.
Treatment can improve the quality-of-life for people with autism & their families. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development:
When children are diagnosed with autism, their families often find themselves dealing with financial and social challenges, as well. A child with autism can cause additional stress on the family, taking its toll on the whole family.
Take care of yourself and your health. You need exercise, rest, laughter and time with friends and others. Maintain your stamina. Practice staying calm and finding humor each day.
Find leisure and recreational activities that the family can enjoy together.
Identify the top few issues and needs for your family and then develop a plan and enlist others in achieving the plan's priorities.
Work on establishing positive relationships with professionals. You will need to work together closely to resolve difficult issues.
You can't do it alone, so ask for and accept help from others.
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/5214.html
"Before RDI, we had very little hope for our son's quality of life. We were told over and over again, by doctors and therapists in the field of autism, that since Marc had passed his 5 year "window of opportunity," we should not expect anything more from him. My husband, and Marc's three brothers, tried for years to build a relationship with him which only led to hurt and frustration. RDI gave our family the tools to interact with Marc on a whole new level. He is becoming part of the family instead of just "an outsider looking in." This isn't a once a week therapy, it's a lifestyle that can be easily incorporated into everything you do. Marc is coming to life right before our very eyes and we, as a family, are helping to bring him there. We no longer feel helpless, and hopeless, when it comes to Marc's future. With RDI training, some hard work, and patience there's nothing that Marc can't accomplish."
Jackie Zaldua, M.A., is a certified RDI consultant, supervisor and trainer at Verdugo Hills Autism Project, where she specializes in the treatment and remediation of autism spectrum disorder. For over 9 years she has worked passionately with children from two to seventeen years of age with severe to high functioning autism. She provides RDI CONSULTATION for families in the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles areas. In addition, she develops school and home intervention programs and provides behavior consultation for parents, 1:1 interventionists, teachers and district aides.
Jackie's clinical work is unique in that she uses a DEVELOPMENTAL AND RELATIONSHIP BASED MODEL AS A FOUNDATION while incorporating her knowledge of RDI, applied behavior analysis, Floortime and Son-Rise principles to provide a truly unique and individualized program for children and families. She is most passionate about what RDI has to offer children and families affected with autism.
Jackie provides parents with a caring, compassionate and professional environment where she helps them better relate to their child. She GUIDES parents in how to use natural opportunities during family life to support their child's growth and development.
Jackie earned her Bachelors of Science and Master of Arts degrees from California State University, Northridge. She is certified to practice RDI (Relationship Development Intervention), an effective treatment program for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Bachelor of Science: Major, Health Science-Health Education,
Minor, Psychology
Master of Arts: Major, Educational Psychology and Counseling
Emphasis, Early Childhood Education
RDI Certification: Relationship Development Intervention
Crisis Prevention Intervention Certification
In addition, she has taken coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of Northern Texas, Floortime Therapy from the Interdisciplinary Council of Devopmental and Learning Disorders, and Son-Rise Therapy from Autism Treatment Centers of America.
Jackie began her work with children affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder, in 2002, at Working With Autism, Inc. as a behavioral therapist, supervisor and staff development specialist. It was there that she was trained in the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis as well as the Son-Rise program. During this time, she provided private weekly 1:1 intervention therapy for a child with autism using the Son-Rise methodology.
In 2008, Jackie transitioned to Verdugo Hills Autism Project in order to learn Floortime-Therapy and to expand her skills in the area of developmental and relationship based therapy. She is currently a supervisor, trainer and RDI Consultant at VHAP.
Jackie is able to rovide RDI services through VHAP via Westside Regional Center. In addition, she accepts private pay clients for families interested in providing RDI for their child.
Jackie Zaldua, M.A. RDI Consultant
Tel: 1 818 458 8021
Email: jackie.zaldua_yahoo.com
West Los Angeles San Fernando Valley
1247 7th Street Suite 202 16600 Sherman Way
Santa Monica, Ca 90401 Van Nuys, Ca 91406
Mother Teresa hung this poem on a wall of the orphanage she founded in Calcutta.
"People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be Kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis. it is between you and God;
It is never between you and them anyway." Source unknown.
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?!" you say. "What do you mean, Holland?" I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to some horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy a new guidebook. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
The pain of that will never, ever, go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland. By Emily Kingsley
Do you like these IEPs? I do not like these IEPs. I do not like them, Jeeze Louise.
We test, we check, we plan, we meet, but nothing ever seems complete.
Would you, could you like the form?
I do not like the form I see. Not page 1, not 2, not 3.
Another change, a brand new box, I think we all have lost our rocks.
Could you all meet here or there? We could not all meet here or there.
We cannot all fit anywhere. Not in a room, Not in a hall.
There seems to be no space at all.
Would you, could you meet again? I cannot meet again next week.
No lunch, no prep, Please here me speak.
No, not at dusk and not at dawn, at 4 p.m. I should be gone.
Could you hear while all speak out? Would you write the words they spout?
I could not hear, I would not write, this does not need to be a fight.
Sign here, date there, mark this, check that, beware the student’s ad-vo-cat(e).
You do not like them, so you say. Try it again! Try it again! And then you may.
If you let me be, I’ll try again and you will see. Say! I almost like these IEPs
I think I’ll write 6,003. And I will practice day and night until they say
"You’ve got it right." Author Unknown
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