Queensland Consultant: Reliez Autism Services |
Kris Jennings - Reliez Autism Services |
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She has long been an advocate for young people with disabilities and their families, working with Asperger Services Australia, a self-funded support group providing support to parents, families, carers, and siblings as well as to children, adolescents and adults with Asperger's Syndrome. I first found RDI® in 2005 and felt immediately that this was something worth getting excited about. This was one program that addressed the core deficits of ASD and didn’t just focus on trying to modify the behaviours. It was a program that empowered the parents to be the primary agents for their child’s remediation. However with only one consultant in Australia at the time, the logistics of starting a program was just too overwhelming. By 2007, after being motivated by hearing Dr Gutstein speak in Sydney, we were further convinced that this was what we had been searching for and was something that we MUST pursue. Our family immediately started an RDI® program with out then 13-year-old son. His progress has amazed and continues to amaze us. It is exciting to watch as he develops the ability to think for himself and to stop and consider what we may be thinking. Now he has now established a peer network and is motivated to actively seek and maintain friendships and relationships. We have learned to guide him as together we celebrate his discoveries and we are continually grateful that we have been able to give him this chance for a genuine quality of life. It was this success that prompted me to want to share my discoveries with others.. that they too could experience the joy of seeing their child emerge and grow, so in December 2007, I travelled to Houston to begin my training and became qualified as an RDI® Program Certified Consultant in early 2009. In my RDI® practice, I draw on my experience as both a professional and a parent, which gives me a unique perspective and an empathetic understanding of the challenges faced by the families I work with.
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Kris is currently establishing her practice in Brisbane delivering Relationship Development Intervention® services to families facing Autism and Asperger’s.