After graduating from West Chester University with a degree in education, I set to work following my life's dream of becoming a teacher. As the oldest of six children, you could say it's a job I was born to do. As my interests began to gravitate to children with autistic spectrum disorder, I became an Applied Behavior Analysis therapist. Soon after, I began to further study the psychology of both typically developing children and those with ASD. I began to sense a critical divide between the teaching methods I was using and the research I was studying.

Something was missing from even the most intensive intervention methods. That something was quality of life.

It seemed that parents began therapy simply wanting their children to speak. Simple, right? Trouble was, the curriculum wasn't teaching them to communicate in anything resembling an effective and fluid manner. I was imparting skills, teaching children tricks to fit in with society. And it wasn't working - for them or for me. I began to feel their frustration at being unable to share their emotional experiences, being confused when a shift in conversation left them searching for the right words. While my students were making excellent progress in structured environments, the program I was doing was incomplete.

Unfortunately, the current research on ASD's shows that while most children will make academic gains and do well in specialized areas, their quality of life is still poor. As a teacher, I knew that success means much more than good grades and memorizing. Few people with ASD have friends, are married, or can even hold a job, even with an abundance of skills. It is also a myth that these children do not want the same things out of life that we do. Surprisingly, there are a lack of studies that use this quality of life criteria to determine treatment success, even though this is what most of us strive for in our own lives.

It became a passion of mine to help families focus on what really matters in life relationships with family and friends and true happiness. I knew that these children were already "pre-programmed" to think in an inflexible manner, and we needed to teach them how to enjoy living in a dynamic world. I realized it would take an entirely new approach to help these children think flexibly, enjoy social interactions, and feel less anxious in an ever-changing world. I was willing to put aside the traditional goals of treatment to work on remediating the neurological deficits that are universal to autism.

I found that "missing link" while attending a conference with Dr. Steven Gutstein and his wife and partner, Dr. Rachelle Sheely. They had found a way to address the core problems that separate people with ASD from typically developing children. It made so much sense to me. The gentle yet rigorous curriculum was well-researched, designed for parents to implement, and would really plug the holes in the commonly used, though somewhat outmoded therapies I had been using. Instead of disregarding typical development, Dr. Gutstein had found a way to examine the thousands of hours children spend learning about the social world, and use it to help children with ASD have a second chance. RDI® Program follows current neurological research on the core deficits in all ASD's. Rather than basing progress on behavioral goals and only observable changes in "appropriate" behaviors, RDI strives to change the way that children with ASD process information and most importantly helps them develop a relationship with self.

With RDI, I have a more limited client base, allowing more of my attention to a select number of children. And since the program is individually tailored to each child, I can address the individual needs of each child and family. I'm excited every day by the progress children are making with RDI - and so are their parents. It is amazing to see a child learn to think on their own for the first time, feel competent in new situations, enjoy sharing experiences with others, and even get the chance to feel like a kid laughing, singing, playing. Quality of life goals not only help the children with ASD but also their families. Parents have said that they finally feel like a family again after starting RDI and those are goals worth pursuing.