Rapid Prompting Method
January 26, 2008, Saturday
9:00 am at the Asian Social Institute
The first to open ASP’s Video Lecture Series for 2008 will be the 2004 HALO Conference Lecture on RAPID PROMPTING METHOD (RPM).
RPM is a method to empower the learner with the best possible means to express thoughts, understanding, reasoning and learning, by recognizing the student’s dominant learning channel (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile) at that instant of learning. RPM is used for academic learning leading towards communication. Both expressive and receptive language skills are developed in RPM’s cognitive learning process, which is designed to improve attention, memory, retrieval and executive functions.
Soma® RPM teaches students through:
1. Using spelling, writing and/or speaking to communicate
2. Teaching learning through reasoning.
3. Integrating the senses for understanding and application.
RPM is a home-grown method that started in India over 15 years ago when Soma Mukhopadhyay taught her severely autistic son Tito with little professional guidance. Despite his severe autism, Tito (now 19 years old) is a published writer and has written several books. His latest book, “How can I Talk if my Lips Don’t Move” elaborates in detail on his sensory experience.
In 1999, when Tito was 11-years-old, Dr. Lorna Wing, Dr. Judith Gould and Dr. Beate Hermelin of the National Autistic Society (UK) assessed and determined Tito to be gifted. In 2000, the BBC documentary "Tito's Story" was released. "Beyond the Silence" was published the same year. In 2001, the Cure Autism Now Foundation offered Soma a fellowship to try her teaching method at a school in Los Angeles, working with nine children with autism. Since then, Soma has refined her trademark Rapid Prompting Method while instructing hundreds of students throughout the United States. Soma's work garnered national attention when she was featured on the television news program "60 Minutes II." Click here to see video.
During the past few years, Soma and Tito have lived away from their native home and family. They have given graciously of their time to scientific research, so that others can understand how and why Soma's method helped to cultivate Tito's brilliant mind. Neuroscientists, including Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D., a professor at the University of California San Francisco and a researcher at the W. M. Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience, have studied Tito to learn more about autism and the brain. Soma's vision for HALO and RPM is to increase academic learning and communication and promote understanding and respect for ASD students around the globe.
