We at Sweeney Augustin, and Associates are pleased to be able to provide Relationship Development Intervention®. Our RDI® therapists are RDI® Program Certified Consultants, having received their training from Dr. Gutstein and Dr. Sheely. Dr. Sheely, co-creators of the RDI® program.

We continue to stay current with all aspects of the RDI® program through ongoing training, education and re-certification. We have presented extensively on RDI® for schools, autism and parent groups, as well as professional groups.

About RDI®

Relationship Development Intervention, RDI®, developed by Dr. Steven Gutstein and Dr. Rachelle Sheely, is a program for educating and coaching parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and others who interact and work with the child. RDI® can also be customized to meet the needs of older teens and adults. RDI® is specifically designed as a program for systematic long-term remediation of the specific core deficits of autism which impede individuals with autism and other disorders from engaging fully in relationships, and developing competency in navigating the dynamic world. It is the mission of those involved in RDI® to develop methods that allow increasing numbers of individuals on the autism spectrum to attain quality of life goals. The mission of RDI® is to provide individuals in a wide range of ages, mastery levels, learning strengths and vulnerabilities, with the means for lifelong development of their dynamic intelligence. This includes providing each student with an optimal ‘entry point,’ staging process and a guiding environment that meets their individual needs.

RDI® empowers families. The bulk of resources are invested in preparing parents to act as participant guides, creating daily opportunities for their child to respond in more flexible, thoughtful ways to novel, challenging and increasingly unpredictable settings and problems. Both mothers and fathers are essential participants in the treatment process.

Parents engaged in the RDI® Program overwhelmingly report significant improvement in quality of life for themselves and their children. While family is central to the RDI® model, treatment success also depends upon the commitment of school staff and other professionals to implement RDI® principles of remediation.

Real-world competence for the child emerges from participating as an active but junior partner, an Apprentice, carefully guided by parents and other adults to master complex problems and settings, despite increasingly greater levels of uncertainty and unexpected change. Guides help the child capture and stockpile critical memories that build an experiential repository of success in gradually more complex environments. Parents are taught to re-think their daily lifestyle, structuring activities throughout the day to provide their child with safe but challenging opportunities for discovery.

Relationship Development Intervention®

About RDI®

Read More About RDI®

Connections Center Website

Getting to the Heart of the Child:

The RDI® Book: Forging New Pathways for Autism, Asperger’s and PDD with the Relationship Intervention® Program.

To schedule an initial consultation or for further information, please contact: