Clubhouse Kids Social Skills Groups
In our Clubhouse Kids program, social skills instruction is combined with developmentally appropriate opportunities to practice socializing with peers. Parents receive feedback and information to help transfer the social skills concepts and techniques home. Groups are ongoing throughout the year, and the program has “rolling admission”, which means that new children may enroll whenever space becomes available. Children’s needs and level of functioning are carefully assessed prior to their being admitted to the group. To maximize success, children are matched with groups of children with similar social challenges and levels of functioning.
Any child struggling with social skills may benefit from participation in a Clubhouse Kids Group. Some children struggle with social skills because they have not mastered controlling their bodies, using their words to share ideas, or because they become anxious using their eyes to look at others. Some children lack the ability to make guesses about what other people are thinking and feeling and yet, other children just don’t feel comfortable joining in a group for play or talk. Whatever the challenge, our groups find room to address each child’s needs.
At Parent to Child, we are Visually-Focused Social Learning Specialists–our therapists hold Master’s degrees in Creative Arts Therapies which informs the work that we do involving non-verbal communication, self-expression and the importance of visual cues in working with children with social learning deficits. We follow the I-LAUGH model of Michelle Garcia Winner* to understand the core cognitive challenges that these children face and develop appropriate learning strategies to address these areas.
Our Curriculum
Our program focuses on learning relational skills within the context of being part of a group. Kids are engaged with each other from the moment they arrive, with the group therapist acting as facilitator and coach rather than teacher. Though we teach kids specific social skills, our main goal is to empower them to become better social thinkers. In other words, to begin to make better guesses about the thoughts and feelings of others in order to adapt their own behavior more effectively to interact. We want kids to develop critical thinking skills about human interactions, not just remember exactly what to do. This helps them to become more flexible and adaptive wherever they go. We do this by being hands-on within the small group environment, talking about what they are doing well and what things they could do to create more positive relationships. Importance is placed on developing trust and safety, and reducing the anxiety that so often gets in the way of these kids initiating and sustaining interactions with others.
What we offer:
• Small group learning
• Fun & developmentally appropriate activities to spark learning
• Safety & camaraderie
• Parent support
• Connections to school or other professionals
• Individual therapy or social coaching
Targeted Skills Include:
• Handling emotions/self-regulation
• Joining play & conversations
• Conversation techniques
• Conflict resolution/problem solving
• Flexibility
• Cooperation/team building
Our social skills program is in its forth year providing social skills training and therapy services to children with Asperger’s Syndrome, PDD, learning disabilities, ADHD, and other social cognitive challenges. Many kids come into our program without any such “labels” as well, and we are able to gear the learning to each individual within the group. Our therapists are trained and experienced in the treatment of neurological disorders, and strive to impact the child’s whole world – across home, school and extracurricular environments.
*adapted from Michelle Garcia Winner and socialthinking.com
