Evaluation of the relationship development intervention program.
Intensive parent coaching in RDI wiped out the autism diagnosis in 16 kids, but the lack of a control group keeps the claim tentative.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Sixteen families with a child who met autism criteria on ADOS and ADI-R joined the study.
Parents learned the Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) program through weekly coaching for at least 30 months.
No control group was used; each child served as his or her own baseline.
What they found
After roughly three years, none of the 16 children still met the cut-off for autism on the same tests.
Parents also reported big jumps in flexible thinking and regular-school placement.
All gains were tracked with the same tools that first gave the diagnosis.
How this fits with other research
Scahill et al. (2015) confirm that ADOS and ADI-R are solid trial-ready measures, so the diagnostic change in the RDI study is believable.
Knopp et al. (2023) also ran a small autism study with no control group and got strong skill gains, showing this design can hint at promise but can’t rule out other causes.
Linscheid (2006) warns that parent programs like Son-Rise are often changed at home; the RDI paper did not check how closely families followed the manual, so fidelity is an open question.
Why it matters
The size of the change is eye-opening, yet the evidence is still soft. Treat RDI as a high-risk, high-reward option. If you coach parents through RDI, add simple fidelity checks and collect probe data each month so you know whether the child’s progress is real.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study is the second in a series evaluating the effectiveness of Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) to address unique deficits inherent in autism spectrum disorders. RDI is a parent-based, cognitive-developmental approach, in which primary caregivers are trained to provide daily opportunities for successful functioning in increasingly challenging dynamic systems. This study reviewed the progress of 16 children who participated in RDI between 2000 and 2005. Changes in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), flexibility, and school placement were compared prior to treatment and at a minimum 30 month follow-up period. While all children met ADOS/ADI-R criteria for autism prior to treatment, no child met criteria at follow-up. Similar positive results were found in relation to flexibility and educational placement. Generalizability of current findings is limited by the lack of a control or comparison group, constraints on age and IQ of treated children, parent self-selection, and parent education conducted through a single clinic setting.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2007 · doi:10.1177/1362361307079603