social skills groups?

[LBW]

DS2 was recently diagnosed with high functioning ASD (Asperger's) + ADHD hyperactive type. He's also extremely bright, with a full-scale IQ of 135. He's a great kid, but he has a lot of social issues: inability to read social cues, lack of empathy, rigid need to follow & enforce rules, etc. He has one friend, and they have playdates every week or so. He also does Cub Scouts. We've tried a couple of sports (track, lacrosse) but they have not gone well at all.

At his developmental pediatrician's suggestion, I'm looking into enrolling him in a social skills group. I'll need to pay out-of-pocket, and I'm happy to do that if it will help. (I've paid out-of-pocket for O/T and therapy for more than a year now.)

I'd love to hear about people's experience with social skills groups. Did a group help your child? Is there anything specific I I should look for in a group? Thanks!

[egoldber]

Older DD did a group in 4th grade and it was incredibly helpful for her. Some things I would look for....

• group that is not too large
  
• a facilitator that is a licensed therapist
  
• more than one facilitator (or a lead and an assistant)
  
• a group of kids whose needs are essentially equivalent (low needs kids in a group with kids with severe needs kids is not a good group for either set of kids)
  
• there is a curriculum they follow

Do you have any out of network mental health benefits? Ours was covered out of network as group therapy.

[mikeys_mom]

DS sounds very similar. He has Asperger's, although no ADHD. Highly intelligent but lots of issues with social cues and being very rigid in his thinking. He did a social skills group when he was around 7.5yo. It was highly recommended by several people and dr's. I found that it was just ok for him. For what we paid, I didn't feel like he got that much long term benefit out of it. Maybe it's just my DS but I find with his high functioning ASD, he does great in these group settings where they tell him what to do and then practice that skill. He then has a lot of trouble transferring that knowledge to real-life situations.

What has worked amazingly well for him is individual ABA therapy. He's in a private school so we were able to hire our own aide in the class to work with him. She was able to teach him skills "in the moment" as well as teach the other kids in the class that they needed to respect some of his limitations and not take advantage of his deficits. We will also be starting individual ABA therapy at home shortly in the family setting.

Team sports were also not great for DS. He tried soccer and hockey but was just more focused on the skills and just didn't have a competitive drive in him to excel on a team. He is very athletic and coordinated so we've done several individual sports and that has worked well for him. Swimming, taekwondo, skiing, snowboarding and track have been great for his self esteem because he really excels in them.

[LBW]

Maybe it's just my DS but I find with his high functioning ASD, he does great in these group settings where they tell him what to do and then practice that skill. He then has a lot of trouble transferring that knowledge to real-life situations.

This is my son, too. He's like a little therapist when he's in a good mood. He can spout advice to others and explain exactly what should be done in any situation. He just cannot implement any of the techniques himself, especially when he's stressed, despite a lot of support and prompting.

We don't have any out-of-network mental health benefits, but I do think ABA therapy is covered b/c he now as an ASD diagnosis. I'll have to look into that. Do you think a group social skills class + individual ABA therapy would be too much potentially conflicting information? Are they better done one at a time?

[LBW]

Thanks, Beth. I figured the therapist would make sure the group members have similar needs, but I should know not to assume by now! I'll make sure that I ask. I'll add the rest of your points to my growing list of questions, too.

I'm trying to get him into a group run by Jed Baker (No More Meltdowns). He comes highly recommended by someone I know who works with a lot of ASD kids.

[egoldber]

How old is he? Our place did not do them for kids younger than third grade, in part because they said so many kids younger than this didn't have the self control to be able to use the skills they learned when in stressful situations. Older DD was 9 at the time. She also benefited greatly from knowing that there were other kids out there like her who struggled with the same issues. She felt very isolated and the group normalized her experience.

We deliberately now choose health plans (and I realize not everyone has a choice!) with generous out of network mental health benefits. Virtually no mental health providers in our area participate with any insurance plans, so coverage is almost all out of network.

I figured the therapist would make sure the group members have similar needs, but I should know not to assume by now!

Unfortunately, you can't assume that. I have heard complaints from many parents that their kids got nothing out of a group because the kids were not even in terms of need and support levels.

[mikeys_mom]

Do you think a group social skills class + individual ABA therapy would be too much potentially conflicting information? Are they better done one at a time?

I don't think the two would necessarily be conflicting but I'd check with the social skills group and let them know he is also doing ABA and ask if they do anything that would be a completely different approach.

My only concern with doing both at the same time is just actually finding the time for them. When we did the social skills class it was a few hours once a week. ABA is also typically done in blocks of an hour or two once a week (or at least that's how we've done it). Assuming you want to find time for other sports and leisure activities as well as some down time, there isn't a ton of time left after all the therapies. My preference is always to only do one thing at a time unless I can do something during school hours and then something else once a week after school. With other kids in the mix as well, that's about all *I* can handle at once in terms of therapy

Good luck! After 2 really rough years with DS I think we are now slowly starting to figure out what works for him.

[JCat]

We do both a social skills group and VBA, both offered by the same service provider. Both have definitely helped in different ways.