What is the difference between ABA and RDI?

As parents, when you’re beginning to look for therapy options to support your autistic child, often one of the first you will come across is ABA or Applied Behaviour Analysis but there are numerous other therapies available including RDI Relationship Development Intervention. SO…

What's The Difference Between ABA and RDI?

I will share my perspective from my experience working with both programs and the education that I received. It's important to note, that I did not attend a university program focusing on ABA, but rather I attended several professional workshops focused around ABA philosophy. If families want to learn more about ABA, I would encourage you to do your due diligence about gaining information.

But here is my experience:

Back in 1997, when I started my career I was trained by an ABA consultant from UCLA in California who took the program under Dr.Lovaas (the father of ABA) . This was one of the leading programs in ABA; it wasn't available in Canada yet.  I received training to understand the structure of the program, I observed how the consultant responded to the child to promote compliance of the ABA program. However, as I observed the child’s success during sessions, I noticed these often didn’t transfer to other areas of  life.  I quickly noticed that ABA was focused on task completion and was not play based.

What Is ABA?

ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis)  is focused on “behaviourism” psychology. This was understanding and responding to behaviour only (what we see) and a strong focus on early intervention.  Is it effective, sometimes..but when it comes to children there is so much more to  look at and to understand. I always felt we have to look deeper!  Many of my written reports were focused on behaviour approaches, what to do, how to do it and the desired outcomes.  Many families saw other professionals with a similar approach.  There was also a belief that children needed 40hrs a week of therapy to achieve  effectiveness. These Behaviour Interventionists would then follow the plan created.

As I got further in my career, I noticed that only a small number of support.   Behaviour Interventionists are difficult to find, and require space and specific supplies .  Also, I began to notice the very high turnover of professionals. Parents were constantly having to find new professionals and retell their stories. As a result the children were not able to develop relationships with the professional therapists as people continually left and new people came in, which  negatively affected their ability to build relationships with their therapists. 

I heard neverending stories of waitlists, consultants focusing on building programs that fit a paradigm of “early intervention” but not to support families, and the high cost of programs.   One family I was involved with back in the day utilized ALL of their retirement savings to support the therapy.  I observed families with so much hope and excitement for this to “fix” the problems they were experiencing. Unfortunately, often these families ended up feeling frustrated, depleted and unsure of next steps when ABA wasn’t working.

Now, let me share with you about my fave… RDI :)

What Is RDI, An Alternative to ABA?

Relationship Development Intervention is based on developmental and brain science.  The RDI process is focused on empowering parents, by offering training to parents (caregivers) primarily to support brain development through mindful engagement.  The reason this is such an important part of the program is because of the known future of autism.  

Autistic children grow from early learners, to school age, high school and adulthood (ALL CHILDREN GROW UP!).  Parents need to have the understanding and guidance so they can support their children as they grow rather than relying on professionals to provide support.  The RDI process also understands and takes into account the dynamic process of brain development. There is so much more to children than just their behaviour!

More research continues to be released with greater understanding as to how early relationships and interactions affect the brain.  The research has also found that autistic children lack growth seeking activation. When we understand that there is a lack of skills, it helps us to look not at behaviour in isolation but at the whole child.  A child needs to feel safe and a relationship needs to be strong in order to support learning. Personal supports need to be developed in order to provide opportunities for growth.  

I believe in a holistic approach to therapies.  Taking the time to understand the why behind behaviour will give us clues as to what is going on for the child. 

With RDI,we can teach to promote independent thinkers.  We recognize that behaviour is only a symptom of what is needed.  We need to provide guidance to help children adapt to the dynamic world that changes so quickly—this is what RDI focuses on and not ABA.

The Goal of RDI

As a certified RDI consultant, my goal is to work myself out of a job. I want parents to feel empowered. I want them to grow in confidence and skills to help respond to what their child needs and to be able to adjust as new challenges occur. I want the parents I work with to learn to think about the process to support their child rather than the mindset of a simple “fix”. In RDI, we want to encourage this connected process so that parents eventually will not have to rely on professionals to find the solution.  If parents are reliant on professionals, this just continues to keep families with a crisis mindset and staying stuck!

ABA is Focused On Behaviour; RDI is Focused on Growth

I remember being in the presence of an ABA consultant and she described what a difficult time she was having with her daughter at drop off at school. “My child is struggling with anxiety,” she explained, “and every morning is such a challenge… but I don't know what to do?  She just has to go, so I don’t reinforce the avoidance behaviour with school.”

This broke my heart!! From a person who understands the big picture, I know that a child who has extreme anxiety  doesn’t want to be pushed into anxiety situations BUT it’s important to implement thoughtful strategies to find out the “why” behind the anxiety. Then we can decide what support strategies are needed for the child to feel more safe and have greater success.  

If we only view the world from a behaviour perspective, we are doing a disservice to the human experience. We live in a complex, dynamic world. We need to honour our children’s emotions, and provide opportunities to support their learning, self awareness, and growth. If we do not, we are only continuing a cycle that often leads to disconnection, trauma and mental illness.

As you explore options for therapies for your autistic child, I encourage you to look at what you want for your child? Do you want a greater connection with your child? Do you want them to experience growth and see an improved quality of life for your whole family? If you said yes, then RDI may be for you.  

To learn more, visit rdiconnect.com or check out my free webinar for insights into how RDI can help support your child.