professionals that have made a difference......

Depending on where you live, there are new kinds of social development programs starting in several states. They are not covered by insurance.
I live near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and there are several. Go to this website…
www.collage-otp.org
That’s a program called Collage which helps with social development and interaction. The director has helped with other programs around the country so they may be able to give you some help finding a program.
They are hard to find, however because of the insurance issue.

Teachers have helped my sons more than any other professional. (Sadly it’s not every teacher that’s been helpful) Both my sons have been fortunate enough to have some very together teachers - people who were comfortable doing more than teaching their subject. In the midst of their busy day, a few teachers weren’t too busy to kindly remind my son not to always argue with others and to encourage him to a less egocentric interaction with others. I could tell lots of wonderful stories.

Some teachers go above and beyond (while others sadly don’t) A good teacher who sees the whole child and has the right priorities for the child can accomplish miracles, I think. A teacher spends 6+ hours a day the entire school year with a child and sees the child in the midst of the social setting that is a school.

Maybe keep your ear to the ground for who’s a good teacher - the really special ones - and try to have your daughter put in that class. Share your thoughts with the teacher - the finger moving and ask the teacher if in her/his busy day they could gently redirect your daughter to a different way to express her excitement.

Good luck.

My daughter (6th grader) benefitted a lot (still) from work with a speech therapist on several issues, including social ones (like tone of voice, nonverbal communication, pragmatics — the social use of language — ). My daughter has non-verbal learning disorder which brings lots of social skill deficits.

She has also benefitted from social skill groups — the best one now more like group therapy with some other ADHD girls (mine also has ADD) and a skilled psychiatrist who she also sees for individual therapy. The main problem with the groups is she can practice behaviors there, but not always generalize those behaviors to other similar social situations.

Regarding working with a speech therapist and her social skills, was that part of her IEP?? My daughter, also a 6th grader,has NVLD as well, and needs help with the social skills. Her neurologist has recommended a psychologist for individual and group therapy and I am pursuing that route. Do you know if the school systems are required to provide the social skill aspect of the child’s learning??? Can I request that the speech therapist work on these skills? She does have one at school. Thanks

My daughter is in private school and we have done all our support independently. She does have an IEP (outdated) through the public sped system, that we got involved with even though she was in private school (for paper trail). In 3rd grade they offered (ha-ha, get this): 1/2 hour of speech 2 times a month. She’s had 1/2 hour 2x/week for a long time. The school slp was willing to work on pragmatics however.

This is very different though, than a social skills group, facilitated by a pro (can be school counselor, social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist,). some schools do offer this — a “lunch bunch” program, or some other venue. I expect it varies greatly from system to system whether you can get it in an IEP, and whether it will be addressed and provided for.

HOpe that helps.

My NLD son participates in a “lunch bunch” program with the guidance counsellor where they work on pragmatics and social skills in a small group (2-3 children) once a week. It is listed on his IEP under “other information” rather than on his service grid, because it is considered “general ed” and available to any child who needs it, not just those with an IEP or 504 plan. He also spends another 30 minutes each week with the school psychologist with the goal of helping him recognize times that he needs help and to ask for it, rather than just getting stressed out and overwhelmed. That time is included on his IEP service grid.

While he very much enjoys his “lunch bunch” at school, we didn’t feel it was adequate. So we also pay for him to attend a private gym-based social skills program for an hour and 15 minutes once a week. This program is expensive, but IMO much more comprehensive than what the school does. His group has 5 or 6 boys with either Aspergers or NLD, all at about the same social, cognitive and physical level. They use cooperative games and problem solving to get the kids interacting in a more natural way than you find in an office setting. Then they work on their social skills within that setting. The kids love it, and at the same time I think the situations come much closer to real-life than an office based program can.

Karen

Hi Karen,
How did you find this social skills - gym based class. I would love to have my daughter get into something liek this but I don’t know where to look. This sounds excellent. You are so fortunate to have found something like this.

Laura Monlea

Hi there. Where did you find the private-gym to work on social skills for your son? Thanks, Theresa

Karen;

Would you be so kind as to inform me where or what organization provides

social skill classes for those nld/asperger students? I am very much interested

in a setting geared for teenagers.

Thanks very much. It’s 5:00 a.m. and I’ve just discovered this web site. It’s so

nice to know there are others “out there” who understand and want very much

to assist in helping others.

Thanks again,

Wendy