Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Incredible Before and After RDI Video Clips

Almost two months ago, I shared a video clip of Pamela reciting A. A. Milne's "The End". Today, I learned about Google Video, which allows you to restrict public searches in their listing. I uploaded the original unedited footage of the poem and a clip I filmed today of Pamela reciting the Lord's Prayer. In both cases, I did not coach her to look at the camera or smile. In the birthday clip, I had to prompt her to say, "Happy Birthday, Grandpa!" She came up with "Surprise!" on her own. Below is the clip from two months ago!



Pamela finished learning the words to the Lord's Prayer, which have eluded her for years. She could say some of it, but she was very unsure of many and skipped most of the closing sentence before she began to study it through copywork and studied dictation in preparation to learn it for recitation. She is so excited about being able to recite this in church with confidence. But, more than that, this clip demonstrates how quickly she is generalizing the social referencing activities I have been doing with her. I did not ask her to look in the camera or coach her as to her mannerisms! I counted to three and started filming!



I am stunned! We have been making RDI lifestyle changes for less than a week. The changes in her ability to reference me socially (without any prompting, pointing, reminders) is absolutely incredible!

P.S. Both were done in ONE TAKE, the VERY FIRST TAKE!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed! I'll have to give RDI another look...

Anonymous said...

I've ordered the book "RDI Intervention with Young Children".
Do you know if this is sufficient to put RDI into practice or I'll need an additional book.
The difference in your daughter nis very striking. Besides the improved eye contact I think she has better intonation.

walking said...

Taffy, I agree it is worth another look, especially if you can quietly work on some of the lifestyle changes and see if anyone notices. My husband noticed a difference after only four days because Pamela was already generalizing the face-to-face contact. This clip is another example generalization to recitations.

Elianna, I think Solving the Relationship Puzzle is important, too, because it outlines the theory. It helps you understand why the activities in the book you ordered. I think the video clips at the RDI site, but you have to register for free to see them. Tuesday night at 9:00 EST, they have a free chat for beginners. I attended one last night and met some encouraging parents!

I plan to order the DVD in the near future, but you can see if autism groups in your area and borrow it for a preview.

Niffercoo said...

Tammy, I'm a member of two yahoogroups for RDI, one is specifically for homeschoolers! Both are very informative and encouraging! Let me know if you'd like the links! :)

I'm so excited for you and Pamela and your whole family!

Jennifer

walking said...

Jennifer,
I am awaiting approval on the RDI homeschoolers one, and I finally was approved for the RDI mid-Atlantic one (after being dumped from pending twice). Are those the two you have joined?

Niffercoo said...

Yep, those are the ones I'm talking about! It took awhile to get approval on the homeschoolers one, but let me know if it takes too much longer and I'll let the owner know you are waiting!

Jennifer