ABA, RDI, or both?

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I'm posting this on several boards to get as much input as possible, so please forgive me if you've seen this same post before!

We don't have a diagnosis in hand yet, but I'm researching like crazy so that we can have a plan of action in place when the assessments are finally done. Everyone agrees that my 3-yr-old son is autistic, so right now it's just a matter of waiting on the paperwork.

I know that ABA is sort of the gold standard for autism treatments, but there is no way for us to pay for 40 hrs/wk as most experts seem to suggest. At most, we could to 10, and that's with me driving my son 45 minutes to the next town to do ABA at the treatment center, not at home. Would he get any benefit from just 10 hrs/wk?

The other program that makes sense to me is RDI. I know it hasn't been around as long, but it just seems to make sense and is structured enough to make me comfortable with it. Of course, again we're looking at a lot of money, so if we want to work with a consultant, we can only do that. There wouldn't be anything left for ABA.

The third option is to do the 10 hrs of ABA every week and to just learn as much as we can about RDI from books, videos, and the internet and do it at home on our own.

I know that every child is different, and no one can tell me what will be best, but I'm hoping some of you can help me brainstorm this out. Any advice would be appreciated!

What is RDI?????
I do a variation of ABA with my child (high functioning autism/ADHD/Dev delay).
ABA is VERY expensive in NZ and not readily available.
What are you doing with your child now? Like do you do schedules, social stories? Are they verbal?
I say post anywhere and everywhere! All the best

Right now we don't do anything special at home - we just became aware that there was a problem a month ago, so we're no where near set up with any programs. He just started ST and OT this week, but that's it.

RDI is Relationship Development Intervention. It's relatively new but seems to be getting good results.

My son is verbal, but with limitations. He doesn't answer questions or to his name, and just in the past few days he asked his first question; "Where's Mommy?" He's just turned 3, and the speech eval said his speech is at the level of a 17 month old. He babbles/scripts constantly and has a few physical stims too. There are other problems, but he's also very affectionate, does make eye contact, and learns quickly. We believe he's hyperlexic because he seems to be able to read, but he's not verbal enough to tell us how much he's understanding.

The cost of all this is just outrageous, and our insurance won't cover a thing. We're hoping that the school system will help, but I can't even get anyone on the phone until school starts.

We have been with RDI for three months now and seem very happy with it. She also has ST and Ot , And once she turns 3 she will be gonig to PPCD at her school district. What I like about RDI is that you participate first with out your child , you become a therapist. You will be the only therapist she or he will have for life. The other therapist will come and go. It was $1,500 for 9 month session and we have payment plans. I never took her to an ABA, because we immediatly went with the latest thing out there.

So far so good.

How could the school system help when he is only 3????
Well since he can read you can try schedules and stories. www.hiyah.net is a great place for social stories but you need powerpoint or powerpoint viewer to read them. You could also write basic instructions like 'put cup on table' to see how much he understands. Also make sure you have eye contact when talking to him.

Many areas do offer early intervention programs through the school district. The idea is that the district's long term costs can be reduced by offering services to future students during the crucial preschool stages. In our area the programs are mostly conducted at a district site, and are not full time.

We didn't participate because we didn't know my son was ASD until age 7, but we did have an early intervention observation that suggested he had light sensory integration issues (nothing severe enough for the district to follow up on at that age, however).

I also have not done ABA or RDI with my son, because he is very high end. The reason I'm posting is to share something I've observed as I've done reading about the spectrum, and that is that these programs seem to have basically evolved from things that very aware parents were doing, and having success with, with their own children. The logic that follows, to me, is that ultimately you will be the best therapist for your child, although it certainly will be helpful to cut through all the experimentation and get some training in what works. All the compelling "success" stories from the generation before our childrens came from the home. This sense that you have to pay someone else to do it seems to be rather new. Long run, an approach that will allow you to continue the therapy outside of the paid sessions would seem to make the most sense.

I do wish you luck with your amazing child.

My son is 3 and some of the most helpful therapy he's gotten is occupational therapy. One might think, now how is occupational therapy going to help an autistic kid? It's not like his leg is broken! But yet it does help him in many many areas, including speech, eating, and socializing.

I think some of it is finding your place in the world. I think autistic kids sometimes get confused about how their body fits in the world, where they end and the rest of the world begins. Another part is just realizing what is part of you, and what is not. The swing is not part of you, but it can move you. The bin full of beans is not part of you, but yet you can feel your brain tingle as you move your hand through it.

I also think daycare has helped my son with starting to socialize, so at least I didn't have to pay therapy prices for that sort of thing.