Bye for now!

Hey ho, my last RDI/Autism blog post for the year!

2014 has seen some lovely growth in Nick. His increased resilience and flexibility has made for a better quality of life for the whole family. Although we make accommodations for him, our life is no longer ruled by autism. We make spontaneous decisions, change plans at the last minute and get to experience new places. Nick just goes with the flow (we do have the iPad for backup should he need a distraction).

How has Nick become more resilient and flexible?  Number one; he has a great team behind him. Number two; I continue to embrace the RDI way of life. One way of ensuring progress is to focus on the concept, 'edge plus one'. Therefore to finish off for the year, I thought I would share our last 'edge plus one' planned engagement.

~*~ 

I found a very yummy looking recipe for Ginger Biscuits, and considering that Nick is happy to get involved with cooking, I thought we could start by prepping the ingredients. To get him into the swing of the engagement, I chose to focus on weighing the flour. Nick is familiar with the reciprocal pattern; I take a turn/he takes the same turn; so I knew that he would feel comfortable with his role.

For the challenge, I decided that we could weigh the butter. This would be harder for Nick as it involved cutting the butter off the block and then transferring it to the bowl. This part of the activity would include a whole lot of motor planning and sensory stuff that Nick would have to deal with. All a bit tricky for him.

So....

Measure out the flour and take Nick to his *edge*
Measure out the butter = *plus one*

The following clip shows that Nick took on his role of measuring flour easily and he was very aware of taking turns. We both had a lot of fun and it is fabulous that we are coordinating our actions and working really well *together*. Nick is so relaxed and is happy to be part of the whole experience. 

edge

You will see in the clip below that Nick finds the challenge difficult, however, I am really thrilled that he keeps trying.

The power of video footage is huge. I can reflect on the challenge and ask myself:

What did I observe in terms of the challenge?
Did anything surprise me?
Was the challenge too hard?
Am I happy with my style of communication?
How was my scaffolding and how can I adapt it to assist with the challenge?
Did I offer opportunities for Nick to 'think for himself'?
Do I feel that the challenge turned the engagement into 'task mode'? If so, what can I do about it?
Was I too focused on following my plan or did I pause and 'rethink' my plan of action in order to help Nick.
Was the challenge a plus one..... or more?
What did I do well and where could I improve?
What will I do next time?

plus one

Well, that's it folks. I hope I have given you some food for thought! Have a fabulous holiday season. See you next year!