Level 5

The fifth level of intersubjectivity is in regards to after 36 months in a typical child, and after stage 3 in the RDI objectives. This level represents My mind - past, present and future to Your mind ( child) past, present and future. Both minds are able to collaborate their experiences with one another. Included are the abilities of reminscing and reflection!  This level is a level where of course there is always room for improvement. As adults we want to be able to balance our plans with a partners plans, and collaborate with one another instead of one person trying to control the entire interaction.  Also included in this stage is being able to look at a situation that another is going through and put yourself into their perspective ( or to think of the different possible perspectives then just what meets the eye)  Speaking of that,  take a  look here , here and here  to take a comical look on what happens when we lack being able to apply the intersubjective relationship to a situation!


 As far as what I see in my child with ASD, they both are able to share about the past experiences, the present and collaberate on the future. For a child, a good clue that they are could be in this stage is they are able to just come up to you, and say something like Mom, remember when * fill in the blank* and it is an experience or an interaction that you both can reflect and share on. One thing that could be a clue that a child with ASD may not have all the levels in place is that the conversation is very rote. The Parent is asking all the questions* how was your day, what did you do? etc* and the child is just responding. The parent is doing the work in the conversation to keep it going. Without that work, the conversation would fizzle pretty quickly.
 RDI addresses the different elements of the intersubjective relationship in Guiding the child and working on those first foundational skills. This work ensures there are no gaps when these elements are  remediated. An example of gaps would include having to prompt a child for the interaction. If a prompt is needed to have a child *look* at the parent, then that child is not developing the intersubjective element. Without gaze, a child cannot take on the caregivers perspective. You can see how, with RDI, getting to the root of the intersubjective relationship goes much deeper then just getting a child to be social or learning skills only. In RDI, we believe we must start at the beginning. Starting anywhere else is insufficient in order to progress through the natural developmental stages.




My goal as a Mom was to restore these developmental milestones for my children with ASD.  As an RDI consultant my goal is to help other parents restore this relationship within their child .