Autism Awareness: Expert Advice on Interventions and Child Development
We've been playing our part to recognize the month of April as Autism Awareness Month. A few weeks ago Holly Robinson Peete, Football great Rodney Peete and their daughter stopped by to talk about dealing with autism as a family.
Today, RDI Program Certified Consultant, Lisa J. Strata, MS,Ed stopped by with a more indepth look at autism and shed some light on Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), one of the treatments for autism. This intervention is different but very effective with children and families. She also shared some of the warning signs parents should look out for.
Lisa Strata is the founder and director of Spectrum Consulting, Inc. Her aim is help families find a treatment plan for their child as an individual. She also consults with many local school districts, while providing training on the various behavioral and educational interventions.
| Search Blog
|
| Meet the PIX Morning News Team | |
|---|---|
| Sukanya Krishnan Co-Anchor PIX Morning News |
 |
| John Muller Co-Anchor PIX Morning News |
 |
| Craig Treadway Co-Anchor PIX Morning News "Early Edition" |
 |
| Linda Church Weather Anchor PIX Morning News |
 |
|
Jill Nicolini Commutercast Traffic Reporter PIX Morning News |
 |
|
Lisa Mateo Feature Reporter PIX Morning News |
 |
| Dr. Steve Medical Reporter PIX Morning News "Ask Dr. Steve" |
 |
| James Ford Reporter PIX Morning News |
 |
| Tamsen Fadal Totally Tamsen PIX Morning News |
 |
Comments: 2
Thank you for broadcasting this segment regarding RDI. This highly effective method of autism remediation is not as well known as some other methods but has been very helpful in the lives of many families, including my own.
The Dept. of Ed has a little known dept called the Dept of Related Services for non-public school students (charter schools and parochial schools). The related providers (speech, OT, PT) get paid $90/hour, but have no benefits, or paid days off. The special ed teachers through this program only get 40/hour, there is a lot of traveling to and from a student just to work for 1 or 2 hours. This is less than market rate for tutoring, so the students parents can't find anyone on the list who will do the tutoring, so the students don't get the services. The Dept. of Ed, though, profits by not having to pay anyone, they get to keep the whole amount from the federal government's funding. If you are financially able to, you can hire a lawyer and then get a teacher for a preferred rate of 90/hour, then your child has a chance. FAPE for people who can afford lawyers only. The chancellor is planning to computerize this system to the tune of millions of dollars.