SOCIAL GROUP THROUGH THE LAUREL PROGRAM

Recognizing that limited social skill development affects persons with autism, Laurel program started a social skill-training group for children we support. All the participants were children who were receiving behaviour consultation services through Laurel and who were funded by Community Living British Columbia. We followed the PATHS program (Prepare ahead – Ask yourself about what you are going to talk about – Time is right (say ) – Hello- with nonverbal Signals  from Navigating the Social World  by Jeanette McAfee, M.D.  The  primary goal was to build their communication skills and to draw confidence from positive peer experiences. In addition the group also focused on learning relaxation strategies and anxiety-reducing techniques to promote positive results in social interactions.

STEP workshops on Positive Parenting Strategies for parents were also included in order to make information and strategies available to families, and to build connections between them. The STEP approach is authored by Dr. Don Dinkmeyer, Sr., Gary D. McKay, Don Dinkmeyer, Dr., Joyce McKay and James S. Dinkmeyer. The STEP curriculum recognizes, children’s behaviors are motivated by a variety of goals, parent encouragement is important for the children to do their best and that family councils for making decisions for and with children are highly valued.

The parent workshop was offered by two graduate students from the Adler School of Professional Psychology, specifically trained in the STEP program. Thus, while the children worked together on social skills, the parents interacted together in their own workshop.

The Social Group has been running for the past eight weeks. The participants were asked to complete a satisfaction survey designed to capture their evaluation of the program. It has been a resounding success. All participants reported gaining valuable insight and having benefited from the consistent and extended support they received. Further, a true sense of community has emerged. One parent wrote the following:

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for organizing this immensely helpful social skills group for our ASD kids.  [My son] has improved so much in ways I have never dreamed possible before the group started in October.  It is as if he's finally starting to come out of his shell, willing to participate and join in with the rest of the world…With the skills he's been learning and practicing in your group, he is now able to play well with his peers in the school playground.  The other day he was even making conversations and telling jokes at our family dinner with relatives…

I also really appreciate having the opportunity to connect, discuss, learn and refine my parenting skills with Erin and Deborah in the format of the parents group alongside our children… [W]e parents need to have a group to help us find creative and effective parenting skills for our ASD children, and the opportunity to practice on one another.  We need a safe place where we feel understood and not being judged unfairly, so we can stay focused on nurturing our children...

Another parent wrote:

…I would like to thank you for the group…It has been positive experience for my kids…Most of the people are commenting from the school how [my children have] been socializing (talking) to kids appropriately.

As a parent I would like to continue the parenting side of it too.

…All the kids attending seems to enjoy each other’s company and you have been facilitating safe, comfortable environment to learn together.

I rate this experience to be the best.

We hope to continue with this project and to extend it to all the families and children we serve within Laurel. Based on our observations, and the feedback we have received, we believe that this sort of support is both needed and valuable.

Jolie Rochard