Maisie Soetantyo,

Maisie has over 10 years of experience working with children on the autism spectrum and began her studies with Dr. Ivar Lovaas and Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh at UCLA. She became one of the first RDI® Program Certified Consultants 4 years ago, (2002), and is Co-founder of the Comprehensive Autism Treatment for Children (C.A.T.Ch.) Clinic based in Sunnyvale, California which provides services for families from around the world. Maisie has provided many video clips for our video library, including this clip where we get a chance to see her model guided participation for a Mom during some challenging moments: "A good apprentice through thick and thin!"

We caught up with Maisie recently and interviewed her en route to her Clinic in Sunnyvale, CA:

Tell us a little about your background working with children on the autism spectrum.
Over the years I worked with hundreds of children using an ABA approach. Of the children I worked with, only a small number of them were able to “graduate” from their ABA program, which meant they were ‘indistinguishable from their peers’ when observed in the classroom. Academically they did really well and had learned enough coping skills to fit in. Yet, at recess time and other unstructured times I could see the difference. These children still preferred to be on their own most of the time. There was still something “off” socially. I could see friendship was really hard for them. And that's the piece I couldn’t figure out: how to help them in unpredictable social situations, for example: parties, sports, recess or grocery stores. ‘How much more practice do they need, and how much more do we have to teach them?’ I asked myself. That was still the missing piece.

How did you come to learn about the RDI Program and become a Certified Consultant?
In 2002, one of my clients showed me “Autism, Asperger's: Solving the Relationship Puzzle” by Dr. Gutstein. When I finished reading the book I called the Connections Center right away to ask how I could learn more! It answered all the questions I had about why the children I had seen couldn’t do certain things, even with really good interventions. It addressed the things I just couldn’t figure out: the motivation to want friendships and the craving for relationships; and how I could help parents relate to their child on the spectrum the way they did with their typically developing children. I knew how to teach parents and therapists to get the children to comply, to become potty trained and to eat independently; but I didn’t know how to teach the parents to play with their child or have a genuine good time together. I also didn’t know how to teach the child to laugh with and enjoy their siblings or friends in unstructured time. ‘Maybe this is it,’ I said to myself, ‘maybe I can help families in a different way.’

How has the RDI Program impacted the relationships you have with your clients?
With the RDI® Program, my practice is definitely much more satisfying. When I ran ABA programs, I could get the children to answer me instrumentally and they would work for me, but they were never really excited to see me. They rarely would run to me and give me hugs or high fives. Sometimes I asked for a hug, or even begged, and they would say no! Now with the RDI® Program, I play with the children at the clinic. They actually look forward to coming!! They'll actually run up to me, pull my hand, and say, “let’s go play.” Or when I sit down with the little ones and we read a book together, they’ll sit really close to me and they will put their heads on my shoulder. One of the kids said “Coming to Maisie’s place is better than playing with the computer!” I can’t describe how that feels. Now as a Consultant, I really help parents to have the primary relationship with their child and so my role is to empower them and also help the whole family be as independent of me as they can from day one.

What is your practice like now?
I still work with some local families, but many more families are coming from around the world. At least half of my practice now is doing RDI® "immersion programs," where the whole family comes and I work with them intensively over 3 to 5 days in a simulated home setting. This program is called CATCh F.I.R.E. - Family Immersion RDI® Program Enhancement. I really love the immersions because I love to see the change in families. The parents feel so much more hopeful because they feel more competent in working with their child and they are excited to go home and do RDI. One dad told me, "I never knew how to do anything with my son before, but now that I know what to do, last night he spontaneously ran up to me and said, 'I love you.' That was worth it all!" These kind of changes excite me just as much as they excite the parents! The immersions are also a great way to work with the whole family together - mom, dad and siblings, and to really customize the RDI® Program to their own lifestyle and their own situation. This really gives their program a jumpstart because they know exactly how to work on things when they go home, have had many experiences of being successful with their child over the course of the immersion and know how to approach problems when they arise.

You have taken the RDI Program to South East Asia. Tell us about your work there.
I'm Indonesian by birth and in 1997 I started going to different places in South East Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, often for two weeks every other month. Last year I did RDI® Program presentations in both Indonesia and Malaysia. Even though I have my own child now, I still travel regularly to the Philippines and am currently working with about ten families there.

How has having your own child changed your work?
Having a child really helps me to have the parents' perspectives. I can teach and tell parents how to do many things, but I understand at the end of the day when they go home, they still have to make dinner, take the dog for a walk, change the diaper, etc. I know that giving really practical ideas to parents is very important. Through watching my daughter, Emma, I learn that every shared discovery is a victory- no matter how small it is!

What would be your biggest tips for parents getting involved with the RDI Program?
Right now my biggest tip for parents is to focus on quality instead of quantity. If you have 5 minutes, it's potentially 5 minutes that your child can remember for the rest of his or her life if you can just focus, slow down, enjoy each other and remember your RDI® Program objectives.

I've also always highly recommended to parents that they do the 4-day Intensive Parent Seminar if they are thinking about starting an RDI® Program. I find the parents who do the Parent Training start off with a big advantage because they understand the Program so much better and it gives them much more confidence. Also, in parent training they learn how to problem-solve some of the day-to-day issues that naturally come up in an RDI® Program. Lastly, they can meet other parents and continue to support each other.

Maisie can be reached at:
C.A.T.Ch (Comprehensive Autism Treatment for Children)
150 West Iowa Ave., Ste. #103
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Phone: 408.245.2100
Cell Phone: 650-483-7174
Email: catchmaisie@comcast.net