Small Group &
Social Skills
Making friends & building your village
Social and emotional skill development can be incredibly frustrating and overwhelming to address. Our ABA small-group programs are designed to provide learning opportunities for these skills in a fun format with peers of similar ages, interests, and abilities. These programs consist of weekly group ABA therapy sessions with programs to track progress over time. Assessments may be suggested to assist in the identification of deficits and the creation of program goals. In our groups we emphasize kindness - both to ourselves and to others, and practice using kind words and kind hands. Each week, groups practice these predetermined skills through activities such as games, crafts, experiments, watching and discussing a movie, and more!
Scroll down to view the group learning & social skills options below.
Building your village.
School Readiness & Social Skills
Our School Readiness program (successfully running since the start of the 2020/2021 school year!) is an active group for early learners with a focus on 1:1 ABA programs/individual learning, as well as group learning skills such as sharing, social play skills, classroom routines, group activities, and circle time/story time.
School Readiness (Morning, 9am-12pm): Throughout the morning, children work directly 1:1 with their therapist on their current targets as well as attend interspersed 'circle times’, group activities at the big table, and opportunities to practice turn taking/sharing and other peer interactions.
School readiness- social skills (Afternoon, 1pm-4pm): During the afternoon, children focus on play and social skills, such as sharing & turn-taking, group crafts & activies, games, and circle/story time.
Currently offered:
Mondays and Wednesdays, at St Paul's Church in Ajax.
Social Skills (General/After School)
During the school day, kids get to hang out with their classmates during recess and lunch break. For students who struggle with social skills, these interactions may be challenging and confusing. Our after school social skills groups attempt to bridge this gap by giving kids the opportunity to connect with like-minded peers in a smaller groups setting. Peer groups are created with children who have similar interests and skill-levels, while practicing individualized skills related to social skills (e.g., conversations), play skills (e.g., wining and losing games, turn taking), and group learning skills (e.g., following group instructions, following peer instructions, etc.).
Program targets are selected based on family goals, observed areas of need, or based on assessments. Some skills being worked on include appropriate winning and losing, maintaining a conversation, cooperation with peers, and following group instructions.
Currently being offered on Tuesday & Thursday from 4-6 pm
Social Skills - School Breaks!
Initially developed as a ‘Summer Camp’ program, our ‘School Break’ groups occur when public schools are on holiday (e.g., March break, Winter break, PA days, Summer, etc.). This program focuses on building social skills while engaging in fun group activities and games, as well as giving kids the opportunity to connect with their friends during their time off from school.
Ratios for this program are determined based on clinical need and the support the child may require participating in the activities
Contact us to learn more!
Breathe & Focus
There isn’t a person in this world who hasn’t encountered a really big feeling when things haven’t gone as expected. In Breathe & Focus, our goal is to help children develop emotional regulation skills and knowledge so that they are able to respond to challenging situations in appropriate and effective ways. Using the “Zones of Regulation” in combination with ABA-based curriculums, students in this group will learn about how different emotions feel in their body, what it means to be flexible, how to identify some of their self-talk, strategies to help themselves feel calmer, and more.
The full program consists of 16-sessions with each session building on the information shared in the previous week.
Within the 16-lesson program, smaller groups have been created to allow flexibility around program length, current emotional support needs, and the child's previous emotional regulation knowledge and understanding.
Smaller groups include:
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Zones of regulation & related strategies to practice
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Flexibility & getting stuck - understanding the feelings in my body, self-talk (helpful and unhelpful), and flexibility.
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Values and tracking your own behaviour
Currently accepting enrollment for future groups!
Contact us for more infromation and to enroll your child!
Virtual Social Skills
When we are not able to meet in-person (due to current restrictions or proximity, for example), social skills group programs will be offered virtually. When required, online programs give the opportunity for children to continue to practice these important skills and to maintain the friendships that have been developed within the groups.
Typically, these programs are 1 hour in length and are run during after-school hours on Zoom. Weekly programs consist of an interactive component (e.g., a craft, activity, or worksheet), and lesson components (e.g., videos, questions, pictures, activities, etc.) displayed through Zoom.
Groups are limited to a minimum of 3 children and maximum of 6 children attending to ensure sufficient time for each child to engage with the group leader as well as their peers.
Covid-19 Notice
Covid-19 Notice: Please note that due to Covid-19 and the fluctuating numbers in Ontario, some services may not be available, or may be altered in their format to ensure the safety and well-being of both clients and staff. We are all working together to create a safer way to provide ABA services during these unprecedented times. If a service that you are interested in is not currently available, please connect with us to be placed on a call list for when services resume.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
