Back to School News Letter

Dear Parent and friends, I wanted to let you know that GroupWorks West is back to work and ready start groups and RDI training. Socialization Training Groups: We offer groups for children and teens from 5 years old through adulthood and we now have FOUR TEEN GROUPS! Groups meet Monday through Saturday for 60, 90, and 120 minutes. At GroupWorks West we believe that memorizing social scripts or protocols via role playing contributes to does not contribute to satisfying personal relationships. The purpose and expectation of a socialization group at GroupWorks West is to create positive memories of individual and group interaction, thereby enhancing social motivation and social competence. Social growth can only occur if memories are created and stored – memories of positive, reciprocal, flexible, pleasurable, and empathic relationships. Social motivation is the necessary precondition for competent social behavior and is the foundation for social skills. Social motivation is the “why bother” of social interaction – the reason for specific skill sets. Teaching social skills without developing social motivation leads to the inflexible and awkward application of protocols – which ultimately serves to alienate children from their peers. To be sure, certain social protocols are valuable and necessary, such how to behave in community settings like a restaurant or movie theater. The value of protocols is therefore limited to social settings where rule governed interaction is necessary – and these settings make up a relatively small part of a child/teens life as a social being. The vast majority of social interaction occurs in what is referred to as “dynamic systems” – which simply means social settings where adaptation creativity, and flexibility are required (not adherence to rules and protocols). Social relationships inherently involve the introduction of new challenges and information that does not fit the child’s existing ways of organizing knowledge. Competent social behavior demands the ability to organize and respond to the ever changing needs and interests of peers. Whether at the park, in the back yard, or on the playground children must be able accurately interpret and to react to new information and new challenges – and have fun in the process. In addition to developing social motivation, GroupWorks West contributes the capacity for friendship in the following ways: • Group provides a safe and supportive place where members can experience social competence and social recognition. Group interaction is designed to foster success -- and thereby, new friendships and a sense of social acceptance. For members who have experienced social rejection and isolation, group provides a corrective emotional experience by allowing members the opportunity to experience acceptance and recognition on a weekly basis. • Group offers a place to openly talk about past and present social difficulties. Unfortunately, most children and teens with autism and related disorders believe they are alone and experience shame about their level of social competence. Sharing feelings related to social rejection and isolation, while listening to peers share similar experiences, is an important part of feeling accepted and recognized. In addition to the benefit of sharing these experiences, group leaders offer constructive feedback and solutions in order for members to experience greater social competence in the future. • Group offers an invaluable mental health benefit to group members. Being in a group where peers feel accepted and appreciated and experience a sense of belonging and joy serves to decrease the anxiety and depression associated with social rejection and/or isolation. • Social skills training groups also provide an opportunity to learn about the unique strengths and deficits of each member. Group should be viewed a social laboratory which allows the leaders to closely examine those aspects of social interaction that work and do not work for each member. As a result of this discovery process, the leaders can develop specific techniques to capitalize on existing strengths while remediating areas of deficit. In turn, the leaders educate parents about the strengths and deficits of their child/teen; as well provide instruction to parents so that they may continue social skills training across different settings (home, school, community). How do we measure progress? The capacity to share experiences with a friend The capacity to borrow the perspective of a friend The capacity to “dance” with a friend (i.e., coordinated and co-regulated play) The capacity to reflect on past experiences and anticipate future experiences The capacity to be flexible and creative The capacity to prioritize the needs of others The capacity to make changes in personal behavior based on the needs of others FALL 2010 GROUP SCHEDULE Teen group: Monday 400 to 530: Age range: 14 to 18 (middle school) This group is for teens with autism that have moderate to serious cognitive and language delays. T een group:Monday 530 to 630 Age Range: 13 to 15 This group is for teens with high functioning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Elementary group: Tuesday 300 to 400 Age Range: 7 to 9 This group is for children with high functioning autism. Middle school group:Tuesday 500 to 600 Age Range: 11 to 14 This group is for tweens/teens with high functioning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Late teen/young adult group: Thursday 400 to 530 Age range: 18 to 25 This group is for teens and young adults with high functioning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Y oung adult group: Thursday 530 to 700 Age range: 22 to 28 This group is for young adults with moderate to high functioning autism in community college or a job settings. Teen group: Saturday 10 to 1200 Age Range: 13 to 18 This group is for teens with high functioning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) Relationship Development Intervention uses contemporary research to accurately identify the underlying neurological deficits that produce autism. Using this research RDI provides parents with the knowledge and skills necessary to remediate these deficits. Previous research and treatment of autism has focused on co-occurring and/or peripheral conditions (e.g., speech delays, sensory problems, emotional regulation deficits, self-help skills, and repetitive behaviors). Furthermore, the treatment of autism has been delegated to professionals and para-professionals, leaving parents out of the treatment “loop.” Despite thousands of hours of therapy spanning years of a child’s life, the vast majority of parents do not feel competent in raising their autistic child. RDI relies on the most recent research on emotional, cognitive and social development to create a logical and systematic treatment program that allows parents to feel competent while playing a central in repairing the neurological deficits that produce autism. Research shows that the deficits of the autistic child are caused by impairment in the communication between different parts of the brain, specifically the executive center and the emotional center (pre-frontal cortex and limbic system). RDI actually works to establish a connection, a “super highway,” that serves to remediate the core deficits of autism.

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