Teaching social skills to children with autism is an area of behavioral treatment that is continuously evolving. At the Autism Project, we offer group-based social skills programs designed to strengthen the communication skills and social interaction abilities of children, teens and young adults diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
Our organization believes that participants will learn through their positive experiences, and we provide a safe environment to encourage active participation and practice social skills, complete with supports to promote success and independence, such as:
Achieving Results
The Social Skills Groups that are run at The Autism Project are led by professionals who are licensed Speech/Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and Mental Health Practitioners, and supported by staff that have received extensive training in best practices for children with autism spectrum disorders.
A licensed clinician identifies individualized objectives for each child participating in the session; develops specialized strategies to target specific communication, emotional regulation, engagement, and social interaction behaviors during group activities; and rates the child’s progress on each objective weekly.
At the end of each 12-14 week session, we assess the degree of improvement that the child reached on each of his/her objectives and mail a Progress Report home to the child’s family. In addition to revealing things you weren’t aware that your child could do, Progress Reports can be a helpful tool when discussing students’ strengths and needs during school IEP meetings.
Specific competencies cultivated through our groups include:
- Positive peer relations, reciprocal play, and engaging in shared experiences
- Functional skills in sporting activities, coordination and teamwork
- Problem solving
- Life skills and independence
- Social judgment
- Body regulation
- Understanding and expressing your emotions
- Building self-esteem
We offer a variety of program options that appeal to a range of interests and ability levels. Read descriptions of our social groups here.
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