Why is it important to learn and practice these skills?
Many individuals in society may require some support to learn how to act in various social situations. Typically, it is not due to the lack of desire to interact with others but rather the lack of knowledge on navigating these situations and experiences. What are social skills? Social skills include play, conversation, emotional, and problem-solving skills.
Supporting children to continue developing their social repertoire and the ability to generalize these skills into their natural settings is key to building independence and accessing their environments. By teaching individuals these skills and practicing them in various settings, they are equipped to develop positive relationships with family members and others, gain the ability to solve social conflicts that may arise peacefully, and navigate these opportunities as independently as possible. These skills can help individuals develop important life skills such as empathy, problem-solving, building friendships, and cooperation.
What do our social skills programs at Believing In Change entail?
At Believing In Change, we strive to create opportunities and provide access for children and families to develop these skills in naturalistic settings, including community and clinical spaces. In doing so, our experienced clinicians are committed to providing these opportunities with a passion to produce positive changes in children’s and families lives.
The social skills program we currently offer include our weekly “Social Skills Series,” which takes place in the afternoons in our clinical space in Vista, CA. This program is offered in addition to 1:1 direct services provided in-home.
“Social Skills Series” (please also see flyer below for more information):
Currently serving weekly on Wednesday’s from 4:00pm-6:30pm in our Believing In Change clinical space in Vista, CA
With this program, we aim to individualize each child’s experience with goals and targets embedded within the naturalistic structure of the program to increase their abilities in navigating social scenarios across environments while providing support as needed. Our approach to target and teach social skills include:
- Pairing 3-5 similar aged peers to help create positive social opportunities
- Positive relationship building
- Conversation skills, turn-taking and sharing
- Utilizing Positive Behavior Supports
- Role-playing and modeling
- Observing baseline measures of skills (including but not limited to initiations, flexibility in schedules, reciprocal conversations, etc.)
- Practicing these skills in naturalistic environments to support generalization and maintenance
- Curriculum-based approach (I.e. individualized goals and targets developed following completion of assessments)
- Ability for caregivers/parents and therapists to track ongoing progress across sessions
Who is eligible for our social skills programs?
We are currently serving the ages of 4 years through 17 years old for our social skills programs. We are currently accepting and serving clients enrolled in ongoing ABA services with Believing In Change for insurance funding for our Social Skills groups. To see the insurances we currently accept, please navigate to our Insurance tab above. For individuals outside of insurance funding, we do accept payment out of pocket and are open to individuals from within the community who undergo an assessment process and accept payment out of pocket. Information on the fees for these groups can be provided to you by corresponding with our Social Skills Coordinator, Michelle.
If you are interested in learning more about our social skills programs, please reach out to our Social Skills Coordinator, Michelle, via email at mbouchard@bicvista.com or call (760) 659-6574.
To directly register for our Social Skills programs, please click here to complete the registration form.