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Social skills groups - questions



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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Sep 07 2016, 11:52 pm
Yes, this happens to be related to another thread I may have been involved in... still mulling over ideas... (a little more realistic than the starting a school idea, maybe? Sigh.)

These questions are for anyone who has sent their child for social skills help, wants to send their child for social skills help, or is a provider of social skills help to others' children. Very open ended questions, just looking to hear people's thoughts and experiences.

If you've sent your kid to a social skills group, what was the cost?
How many kids/ages were in a group?
Did you find it helpful? (why/why not?)
Who ran it - a social worker, a random talented person, a something else? A team or an individual?
If kiddo found it fun, what kinds of things made it fun?

If you wanted to send your kid to a social skills group but didn't, why not?
Is it unavailable, too expensive, no time, something else?
What would you expect/be willing to pay?
What would make you interested in joining?

If you've been involved in social skills groups as a professional, can we talk? Can you share any pointers relevant to above questions and things to consider when thinking of starting this type of venture?

Thanks in advance for sharing!
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amother
Ecru


 

Post Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:14 am
seeker wrote:
Yes, this happens to be related to another thread I may have been involved in... still mulling over ideas... (a little more realistic than the starting a school idea, maybe? Sigh.)

These questions are for anyone who has sent their child for social skills help, wants to send their child for social skills help, or is a provider of social skills help to others' children. Very open ended questions, just looking to hear people's thoughts and experiences.

If you've sent your kid to a social skills group, what was the cost?
How many kids/ages were in a group?
Did you find it helpful? (why/why not?)
Who ran it - a social worker, a random talented person, a something else? A team or an individual?
If kiddo found it fun, what kinds of things made it fun?

If you wanted to send your kid to a social skills group but didn't, why not?
Is it unavailable, too expensive, no time, something else?
What would you expect/be willing to pay?
What would make you interested in joining?

If you've been involved in social skills groups as a professional, can we talk? Can you share any pointers relevant to above questions and things to consider when thinking of starting this type of venture?

Thanks in advance for sharing!


- Much of the cost was covered by insurance. The group was run by the agency that provides my son's ABA therapists, and billed as behavioral therapy. (I do not know the specific CPT code.)

- The group was 8 children, grades K-2, and selected to include children who function on a similar level socially.

- The group is run by two ABA therapists, I think at least one of them is a BCBA or currently completing the requirements towards BCBA certification. Other therapists support, there is a 1:2 or 1:3 therapist:child ratio in the room.

- My child enjoys the group play, story, free play... usual kid stuff. Smile He particularly enjoys the group b/c he feels more comfortable taking "risks" than he does in his mainstream classroom... he doesn't worry about any stigma if his attempts don't succeed. The risks that he has taken in the group give him confidence to try new things in school, so he definitely benefits from having the chance to practice social skills in a more comfortable setting.

We've done groups run my non-professionals in the past (think Friendship Circle-type activities). They can be fun, and a great way to kill time on a Sunday, but I don't view them as something that actively works to help build my son's social skill set. There is simply no comparison between inexperienced volunteers/educators and trained professionals. I wouldn't necessarily only consider a group run by experienced ABA therapists or BCBAs, but I would want to see that someone has experience working in or running a focused social skills group, done training seminars with Social Thinking, or other things like that.

I'm a big fan of your therapy-related posts on Imamother. I wish you much hatzlacha!
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 08 2016, 12:24 am
Thank you for sharing! I would love to have that kind of group here...
Seems kind of interesting to have such a high staff ratio unless some of the kids are lower functioning?

I also should have asked - about how long do sessions run?
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amother
Ecru


 

Post Thu, Sep 08 2016, 1:30 am
seeker wrote:
Thank you for sharing! I would love to have that kind of group here...
Seems kind of interesting to have such a high staff ratio unless some of the kids are lower functioning?

I also should have asked - about how long do sessions run?


The kids are all ka'h extremely verbal and function well socially. The high ratio enables the kids to get immediate feedback/redirection on their social interactions. I believe that all of the participants also get private ABA therapy through the agency that runs the group, so presumably they all have an ASD diagnosis (or a related diagnosis if they were diagnosed under DSM-IV, but I'm not sure how likely that is given the age of the participants).

The sessions meet for two hours, either once or twice a week, for eight weeks.
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imasinger




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 08 2016, 5:41 am
The program my DS (and earlier, DD) goes to works like this:

Doesn't take insurance, but provides receipts for parents to submit on their own for reimbursement. Costs about 70/one hour session. You sign up for a 3 month block at a time. Many stay for the entire school year.

Program is operated by those with advanced degree in psychology. Therapists are a mix of social workers and graduate students.

The business rented a warehouse, and turned most of it into a 3 room gym, the rest into sit-down group meeting spaces.

Sessions have 3 components; active games in a gym space, where group members have to work as a team to beat the counselors; rope climbing and other individual risk taking challenges, where group supports members one at a time, and snack/talk time focused on learning to share and to listen to others.

I think they must do very well financially. The groups have 6-8 members typically, and are composed of same gender, similar aged kids. They have a staff of around 20, and have groups starting every 15 minutes from 3:30 to 7 or so, rotating through the spaces.

We love the place. I can send you a link if you want to talk to them about creating something similar.
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amother
Apricot


 

Post Thu, Sep 08 2016, 5:46 am
amother wrote:
- Much of the cost was covered by insurance. The group was run by the agency that provides my son's ABA therapists, and billed as behavioral therapy. (I do not know the specific CPT code.)

- The group was 8 children, grades K-2, and selected to include children who function on a similar level socially.

- The group is run by two ABA therapists, I think at least one of them is a BCBA or currently completing the requirements towards BCBA certification. Other therapists support, there is a 1:2 or 1:3 therapist:child ratio in the room.

- My child enjoys the group play, story, free play... usual kid stuff. Smile He particularly enjoys the group b/c he feels more comfortable taking "risks" than he does in his mainstream classroom... he doesn't worry about any stigma if his attempts don't succeed. The risks that he has taken in the group give him confidence to try new things in school, so he definitely benefits from having the chance to practice social skills in a more comfortable setting.

We've done groups run my non-professionals in the past (think Friendship Circle-type activities). They can be fun, and a great way to kill time on a Sunday, but I don't view them as something that actively works to help build my son's social skill set. There is simply no comparison between inexperienced volunteers/educators and trained professionals. I wouldn't necessarily only consider a group run by experienced ABA therapists or BCBAs, but I would want to see that someone has experience working in or running a focused social skills group, done training seminars with Social Thinking, or other things like that.

I'm a big fan of your therapy-related posts on Imamother. I wish you much hatzlacha!



Thank you for sharing. Can you describe specifically whats "risks" your child is willing to take in the program?
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Sep 08 2016, 8:14 am
Imasinger I would love a link, you can pm it if you prefer. Not that I'd be able to follow such an ambitious model but it's interesting to hear what's out there. I think it's strange that I live in such an advanced city but I never heard of anything comparable here. Sounds like it has a lot in common with the wonderful place we use for OT except that didn't have much group component - sessions are individual but we were lucky a compatible kid had one at the same time so they did activities together.
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