About Our Social Skills Groups
At Lighthouse Autism Center we believe in bringing together compassionate care and clinical excellence to meet each child’s unique needs. Many children with autism experience challenges with social skills including communication, social interaction behaviors, emotional regulation, engagement, and simply meeting other peers with similar skills or interests. In order to better meet the social needs of our learners, Lighthouse is now offering social skills groups at select center locations including our Clinton, North Liberty, and Marion centers (Iowa center locations).
These social skill groups include:
- Weekly “group” schedules that take place a minimum of 4 hours per week.
- An experienced clinical facilitator to lead the social skills group in a structured setting
- Peer-to-peer interactions with children of similar age and skill level
- Group instruction and collaboration to build practical social skill tools
- A safe and fun environment for children to meet others on the autism spectrum
Benefits of social skills groups:
- Teach and practice real-world social and community situations.
- Build long-term self-esteem and confidence
- An opportunity to connect and build relationships with peers
How to enroll
A member of our clinical team will meet with you for an enrollment consultation to determine if the social skills group may be a good fit for your child and family. Following that meeting, an assessment will take place to identify a child’s individual goals for the social skills group and develop targeted strategies to address their social, communication and behavior goals.
Once an opening becomes available in a group at your local center, your child will be enrolled. Throughout the duration of your child’s participation in the social skills group, the child’s progress will be assessed weekly with adjustments to the child’s programming being made as needed. Family and caregivers will remain active in the child’s participation through monthly parent meetings with your child’s clinician to review progress and offer parent training as needed.
