The general focus of social skills program is to help establish the best foundation for a child’s success in a variety of settings including school, home, playing with friends, and during sports or other extracurricular activities. This program is unique in that the number of children is limited per team in order to effectively combine the benefits of peer-to-peer social interaction with individual therapy. It is comprehensive and provides social opportunities for children ages 2 years through teens.

 

Children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Learning disability, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and other behavioral/developmental issues often have difficulty with social communication skills including social problem solving, pragmatics, and coping.  Weaknesses in these areas can lead to isolation, anxiety, anger issues, low self-esteem, and possibly depression.  As children grow, the challenges they face become more sophisticated and so must their therapeutic intervention.

 

A team of professionals including occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, educators, psychologists, and behavioral specialists have contributed to the development of the Social Skills Program at the Center for Pediatric Therapy. The collaboration among different disciplines provides a cohesive, broad-range therapy approach to best address these skills in young children.  The specialization and experience level of our staff also allows greater emphasis on specific needs of the children involved (i.e. self-regulation, autism spectrum issues, self-esteem, anger management, etc.).