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Why Our FRIENDS Groups Are Different
With the increase in social skills groups out there, we wanted to highlight some of the ways in which our FRIENDS groups are unique. First and foremost, we have to stress the importance of teaching social competencies to our learners rather than strictly "social skills". This idea comes from Michelle Garcia Winner's team at Social Thinking® So, what exactly is the difference?
- Waving is a social skill. We've learned to perform this behavior that when greeting others, you wave. It is consistent every time and doesn't require much adaptability in the moment.
- Social competencies teach ways to problem solve, and adapt in the moment. It requires higher level thinking and processing information before reacting. The Social Competencies Model on the other hand incorporates four major areas in a developmental hierarchy:
- Social attention and awareness
- Social interpretation of self and others
- Decision making and social problem solving
- Social responses
Here at FRIENDS group, our curriculum is driven by The Social Thinking® methodology, among others. We focus on increasing one's awareness and application of those four major areas mentioned above in order to become better social communicators. Additionally, some of our services include:
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Our groups are co-led by
licensed and certified speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists
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We provide a
verbal summary
of the day's events to parents/caregivers after every session
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A
detailed, written summary
is then sent to families that can easily be shared with other therapists, counselors, teachers, etc. to make the language and concepts used more transferable across settings
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Group goals
are established for each child, with baseline data collected near the beginning of the group and a final progress update before the term ends
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An
individualized conference
is offered to every family to discuss progress made as well as continued areas of growth
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Collaboration with outside therapists, teachers, camp counselors, etc
. to ensure carryover of skills and language used for optimal success for each child
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Close, careful attention is paid to each child's medical history to create a
safe and fun environment
for all participants
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Free 20-minute screenings
are offered to children interested in participating
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Careful placement
of children in the most appropriate group to balance skill levels
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Frequent communication
available via telephone or email to problem-solve if concerns arise between parents, school, community, etc.
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A
tailored approach to each family's goal areas
(i.e., more practice perspective-taking, problem solving, regulation and coping strategies, etc.)
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