Minnie Cadambi
Level 2 RPM Practitioner | Communication, Learning & Financial Self-Determination
My Guru, Soma Mukhopadhyay
Soma developed the Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) through her lifelong journey of learning, observation, innovation, and service to autistic people. What makes her contribution particularly meaningful to me is the generosity with which she has shared her knowledge and continued to innovate in service of the community.
I am eternally grateful to Soma for the possibilities she opened for my family and for so many others.
To me, Soma's work is more than a method. It is the product of a life devoted to meaningful service a life lived in pursuit of her swadharma, her particular calling and duty to use her gifts in service of others.
I feel privileged to have learned from her and to carry forward, in my own small way, the spirit of inquiry,innovation, and service she has modeled for our community.
MY JOURNEY
My son was my first RPM student.
Eight years ago, our journey with RPM changed the way I understood autism, communication, and learning.
I had been pursuing a Master's degree in Special Education and was three credits short of completing it. The answers I had been seeking through my studies were being brought to life through RPM. I chose to step away from the degree and devote myself to learning and practicing RPM.
Over the years, this has become much more than a professional path. It is a deeply personal journey of learning alongside nonspeaking and unreliably speaking autistic individuals and their families.
MY CAREER & EXPERTISE
My Professional Background
My professional background is in finance, economics, accounting, and statistics. I have worked in professional accounting and auditing roles with Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
That background continues to shape one area of my work: helping students explore financial concepts and develop the knowledge needed to participate in conversations and decisions about money and their future.
A GUIDING PRINCIPLE
Presuming Competence
Presuming competence is a foundational principle of RPM.
For me, this means approaching a student as a capable learner, even when conventional communication or performance does not reliably reveal what they know or understand.
RPM encourages us to look for ways to teach, ask meaningful questions, observe responses, and adapt to the individual's sensory, motor, and communication needs.
Presuming competence does not mean assuming that every skill is already present, or that one approach will work for everyone. It means beginning with the possibility of learning rather than defining a person by what they cannot yet demonstrate.
COMMUNICATION & SELF-DETERMINATION
From Communication to Self-Determination
Communication is not the destination. It is a bridge.
A bridge to learning, choice, self-expression, and participation in one's own life.
My goal is to help create opportunities for individuals to express their unique and brilliant minds—and, over time, to have greater participation in decisions that affect them.
FINANCIAL LITERACY
Financial Literacy & Financial Self-Determination
My background in finance gives me a particular interest in financial literacy.
Sessions can explore practical concepts such as money, prices, spending, saving, budgeting, banking, work and income, and financial choices. For students who are ready, we can also introduce concepts such as investing, Special Needs Trusts, CalABLE, and SSI.
THE PURPOSE IS EDUCATIONAL
The purpose is educational: to build familiarity with financial concepts and create opportunities for individuals to communicate their preferences, goals, and questions about money and their future.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
Learning for Life
Learning does not have to stop at the classroom door.
RPM began my own journey into a different way of thinking about learning.
My work can include academics, mathematics, creative writing, problem-solving, and topics connected to a student's interests and everyday life.
INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING
High Standards, Individualized Support
I believe in setting meaningful challenges while recognizing that each student may need a different path to engage, respond, and learn.
Sessions are individualized around the student's needs, interests, regulation, and readiness. The approach
may change as we learn more about what works for that individual.
The aim is not to promise a particular outcome, but to create meaningful opportunities to learn,
communicate, participate, and grow.