Autism. Stage 5 RDI coming up

I was looking at the RDI objectives coming up for Bright Eyes and I to work on in the next few months. He's now in the early part of Stage 5. We have mastered a few things but we have probably 50 things to go.

Every time I read over what's coming up, I get so excited. Some of the things at the end of Stage 5 are things like (and I'm paraphrasing) 'the child shows interest in what other people say', 'the child shares experiences with other people' and 'the parents are much less worried about their child's future'.

It occurred to me that if Bright Eyes can master the 50 Stage 5 objectives over the next year, he is going to be a much easier child to live with by Christmas.

I talked to our consultant about this and she reminded me that these things take time and commitment. An ad hoc approach won't get it done as effectively or as quickly. She suggested two hours a day - one from me and one from AP.

Of course, I felt equally excited and overwhelmed after that. When am I going to make that kind of time without the distractions of the other children?

It then occurred me that if I show the outcomes to the school, they'll more than likely be convinced that mastering Stage 5 is going to seriously help Bright Eyes' school life. So my plan now is to go and chat to the teacher and find an hour a day where one of us can take him out of class to work specifically on RDI. That way, his official learning time is including learning the things that really help him.