What is RPM?
Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) is a method of educating people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to increase their knowledge across a range of topics, strengthen their sensory tolerances and develop or improve upon their ability to express themselves.
Many people diagnosed with ASD, especially those diagnosed as severe or low-functioning ASD, are assumed to have an intellectual disability (ID) due to their inability to respond, act or express themselves in a prescribed or requested manner. It is often assumed they are not listening or not paying attention because they are not directing their attention to a stimulus in the same way a neurotypical person would. But do we really need to make eye-contact to hear and understand what someone says? Does every sound the world produces vanish the moment you create your own sounds? Do you become incapable of receiving external inputs the moment you wave your arms, pick at your fingers or rock your head?
The reality is that, for so many of these people, they have the ability to learn but often lack the ability to SHOW that they have learned. RPM aims to educate people of all ages about the world around them, and it’s rich history. In the process of this, the student will be taught a progression of response methods with which they can demonstrate their learning and, eventually, work up to expressing their own thoughts, feelings and desires.
RPM was developed by Soma Mukhopadhyay for her son Tito who has severe autism. Soma continues to teach and improve RPM through HALO, an organisation based in Texas. Tito is a published author of multiple books. And RPM is used around the world by a rapidly growing group of people who are seeing incredible results working with their child, student or friend with ASD.
You can find more information and RPM resources on the HALO website at www.halo-soma.org
You can also find more information, including tips and advice, on the FaceBook page “Unlocking Voices - Using RPM”, along with an up-to-date list of all Soma approved practitioners.
Who is it for?
RPM can be beneficial to people of all ages, it is never too late to begin educating someone! Each lesson is delivered in a manner that is age-appropriate, even in the case where the content might be designed to “catch-up” the student.
Some parents wonder if their child might be suitable, comparing between other kids or their own expectations. RPM works at the student’s pace, depending on his or her tolerances and sensory experience of the world. RPM students are invited to sit for the lesson, but it is not essential - lessons can be taught standing, moving around, on the floor, in the car, all depending upon the student’s sensory tolerances. It can take a great deal of patience and perseverance but the path is littered with what sometimes seems like tiny breakthroughs, each one being a building block to something far greater.