Rapid Motor Imitation Antecedent (RMIA) Training Manual, Research Edition

When you're working with preverbal children on the autism spectrum, you need a complete toolbox of highly effective strategies to expand their communication skills. Add Rapid Motor Imitation Antecedent Training (RMIA), and you'll have one of the most promising interventions for helping young children say their first words.

A discrete trial intervention approach for preschoolers with autism who have severe language delays, RMIA is a crucial step on the path to improved communication function. It's an easy-to-use method: children imitate a rapid series of simple motor actions and are then asked to imitate a word. The momentum they build by performing the easy motor actions helps them comply with the more difficult task of word production.

A must for SLPs and autism specialists, RMIA is an ideal addition to your current lineup of strategies and supports:

• Experimentally tested at the Yale Child Study Center, one of the nation's top autism treatment centers.
• Originally developed since 2002 at Teachers College, Columbia University and proven effective for helping young children develop functional speech.
• Perfect to use in tandem with naturalistic interventions like Parent Responsiveness Training.
• Focused specifically on initial imitation of words—a critical step toward using language spontaneously.
• Quick and easy to implement—RMIA should be administered in short, frequent doses, making it an easy fit with your everyday practices.

The only product available that shows SLPs and autism specialists how to conduct RMIA, this manual-and-CD set gives you everything you need for successful implementation. You'll get complete, practical guidance in the accessible how-to manual, and the CD-ROM gives you a full hour of explicit demonstration videos that show case studies of RMIA in action. You'll also get printable data collection forms to help organize RMIA sessions and assist in data keeping (both blank forms and completed samples).

A key component of your comprehensive intervention program for social communication, RMIA will help young preverbal children overcome the hurdles to saying their first words—and start making real progress toward communicative competence.