June 24, 2013
An exciting chapter for New Zealand's early intervention began on the campus of the University of Canterbury this morning. Fifteen people from around the country gathered to receive training on the Routines-Based Interview, with a view to their becoming trainers in this process.
This 3-day training, what some people call RBI Training Lite, will, we hope, result in a new cadre of trainers. From the first training a year or so ago, four professionals have been approved as trainers (3 are present at my training). These four coaches will help me train the new cadre.
Today, I demonstrated the interview with a family from Christchurch, who were great for the purposes of our training. Their child was born with a number of congenital abnormalities but the real issues now that the child is a preschooler are the child's challenging behaviors. We all fell in love with the parents and were very grateful that they let us use them for this training. Also, the child's kindergarten teacher came and told us about the child's routines there.
The trainees were perceptive about the value of the RBI. They commented on the depth of the assessment and the extent to which family-level issues emerged. They were well prepared, having read materials about the RBI and seen information at www.siskinresearch.org. In the afternoon, we discussed the secrets of good interviewing and the structure of the interview. Tomorrow, they practice.
