What Makes Social Discovery Different?
Many youth struggle with social skills, but adolescents on the autism spectrum can have particular difficulty figuring out the social environment on their own. To address this need, there are several social skills programs that use didactic and psycho-educational approaches to teach about social rules, expectations, and behavior. Although this is often very useful, it is rarely sufficient for making and maintaining friendships - and that is what Social Discovery is about.
Social Discovery is based on the idea that all youth need a space to be themselves, be accepted, and have fun. That space is what our groups seek to create. Through the experience of acceptance, we can expand interactions between peers while strengthening existing and emerging social competencies. This triadic and experiential model of social skills instruction not only promotes social behavior - is teaches youth how to share thoughts and feelings, problem-solve, and self-regulate. Even more than that, youth experiance a sense of connection.
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