Soma Mukhopadhyay

Soma Mukhopadhyay is an Indian educator and the creator of Rapid Prompting Method. Her use of RPM with her autistic son Tito Mukhopadhyay garnered media attention in America in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Career
Mukhopadhyay came to the United States in 2001. In 2003, Mukhopadhyay gained recognition when featured on the popular news program 60 Minutes. She joined Helping Autism through Learning and Outreach (HALO) in Texas in 2005. She also hosts workshops involving RPM worldwide. RPM was featured in an Apple Inc. commercial, which led to further controversy over her technique.

Individualized approach and learning channels
It has been noted that Mukhopadhyay gives a high rate of verbal, gestural, and physical prompts even to the most independent students, and uses circular logic to explain why she claims RPM is legitimate. Mukhopadhyay has also acknowledged that a teacher who wants to move quickly could accidentally guide the student's arm through touch, when that is not allowed in RPM.

Recognition
Apart from her work with Tito, Mukhopadhyay's involvement with autistic individuals expanded when she was invited by the Cure Autism Now foundation. The release of the BBC documentary "Tito's Story" highlighted their personal experiences, leading to a fellowship offer from the foundation to extend her work with autistic children.