Support and Interaction

MANAWATU JUNIOR SOCIAL SKILLS COURSE

Introduction

This group has been designed to set the children up with peer networks and relationships in the city. The children are buddied and have a support adult. One child has required one-to-one assistance.

We have used the children's individual interests to create a programme that has a theme focusing on specific topics every month. We motivated the children by using their areas of interest and incorporating this into the teaching of the content.

Our group is made up of 8 boys, and 2 girls. We have 6 support adults. Through this course the children have displayed many various emotions from happiness to anger and tears. There is not much we have not seen. However due to the wonderful support adults working with these children, there has not been a situation that has not been resolved in a very positive and pro-active outcome with the children being set up for success.

The 2003 Group

MAY - Theme - Friendships, praise and encouragement

After introducing the children and adults to each other, issuing our their portfolios which Teresa had decorated so well with their areas of interest and going over some basic keeping safe rules we headed off to PromoKing Fun Park for our introduction to each other.

This fun park has 3 activities. Go Karts, Bumper boats and mini-golf. The children were buddied up with a new friend and partnered with an adult support buddy for the month. They headed off to have one turn at each activity.

The children (and adults) were challenged in many areas. Fear and anxiety were the most prevalent. Sensory overload with noise and water and the need to win were part of this day also. However every child attempted the activity with the help, patience and encouragement of their adult support and their buddy. For some the fear of the bumper boats and getting bumped or wet almost stopped them from participating however they conquered and we could see from this stage a very courageous and determined young group of kids.

Promoking Staff were excellent and very supportive. Thanks very much!

The second session of the month was wrapped around a treasure hunt. We started to see the children praising and encouraging one another and one boy even gave his adult support a sticker for "being the best support adult"! Emotions ran high for a while when outcomes never matched up to the children's expectations however discussions, guidance and choice making all helped to alleviate the accumulated stress and some of them learnt a new skill of appreciation they didn't know they had!

JUNE - Theme - Listening Skills, facial expressions, body language.

The first session of the month was around the children interviewing each other while they were videoed taped. This had mixed results. For some of the more interactive kids they did a very creative job and it was obvious they understood the concept of facial and body language. For others it posed a challenge however they all gave it a go and were stretched just that little bit more. Lots of positive reinforcement with stickers relating to their favourite characters were dished out and those portfolios are looking very swish now.

Our second session brought in a cartoonist - Wayne Cooper - who interacted and worked well with the kids. Wayne drew the kids favourite characters and their facial expressions and then while the kids made up their own deck of cards went and spent time with each child drawing something "special, just for them". Thanks Wayne!

JULY - Theme - Loosing, facing fear!

We had a games session. The kids chose a game and played with their buddy while the support adult helped them resolve any issue that came up with losing. This once again pushed a few buttons but although was challenging for some of the adults, we did see the children respond in a pro-active way with their copying skills on losing. 

Our second session for the month brought lots of laughter, smiles and joy. We went indoor go-karting. The children and adults were put into 3 teams and the waiting times were lengthy. However we saw great social and interaction skills occur that were not there in the beginning of the course. The kids thoroughly enjoyed this (as did the adults) in particular the children who initially said they were too afraid, actually did give it a go and the smiles of victory on their faces were just wonderful for us to see.

AUGUST - Theme - Bullying, facing fears, rejection, losing.

We covered this topic for August as well as July as in the children's registration forms it was noted these were especially difficult areas.

Our first session was based around real life situations of bullying, anxiety and fear. We talked in small groups about these and then the children were given the opportunity to role-play the scenario and then the outcome. For some of the groups it was a discussion time around the personal scenarios and the adult introducing different ideas for them to think about. We finished off the session with a relaxation session, teaching the children their breathing techniques and ways to learn to relax.

Second Session - City Rock here we come! WOW describes this. Some of the children were nervous before we even entered the building. However with encouragement we got them to put a harness on and those more confident with this task took off and claimed victory over some of the hardest rock climbing activities. This was a totally new experience for most of the children and some tears and anger did flow. However once again, with our very supportive adult team and the great proprietor of City Rock, these kids once again gave it a go and achieved very well.

SEPTEMBER - Theme - Self-esteem, Affirmation/Encouragement, Working together. 

We visited Te Manawa Science Centre where we participated in Uncle Bruno's Beastly Adventure. We learnt how to discover the magical beast Uncle Bruno was looking for and solved the clues and learnt the code to the treasure chest! This was a great time with everyone working together well in teams. We had a neat host who let the children into the Space Lab when we had finished. Thanks to the staff of Te Manawa.

Our second event for the month was supposed to be a visit to the Splattered Platter to paint some ceramics and work on fine motor skills. Unfortunately, family illness meant that the man who was supposed to be meeting us wasn't there. As we all know, one of the worst things that you can do to people with AS is change plans suddenly, this could have been a disaster! But it turned out to be our most successful time yet, because the children have grown so much. We decided to go back to our usual meeting place to play games, and everyone coped brilliantly with the change of plans. We were so proud of the way that they played together, adapted to the changes and were just so calm and happy!

When we did get back to Splattered Platter, the children painted, created and had a great time. Their bowls, snakes and flowers looked marvellous. Our thanks to Ben at Splattered Platter.

OCTOBER - Theme - Positive Peer Acknowledgements

Here the children created word and picture affirmations about each other. They wrote something positive about each other and either created a picture, or pasted one describing their peers. These we laminated and they were presented with at the following session. They looked great! Such positive affirmation coming from them to each other!

NOVEMBER - Theme - Team work, building on peer relationships and skills learnt

Kapiti Island - here we come. We left home at 7.30 am and arrived home around 6.30pm. The kids loved the boat ride and the exploration of the Island. Half of us made it to the summit, the other half made it part way. It was glorious weather, a beautiful environment, very relaxing and most of all the kids beamed all day. Apart from when the Kakas landed on their heads or arms. After a while though the children adapted and were soon found waiting patiently for the birds to "arrive". The highlight for me was the complete and utter joy on the kids faces at various times of the day. This trip really solidified their friendships and made the whole programme utterly worthwhile!!

The People That Make It Happen!

Introducing: Karen Woodfield

When Toby asked me to write an introduction about this course and more specifically why I did this I found this was in fact quite an easy question to answer. 

I firmly believe that every person has gifts and abilities. They may not be obvious but if you know how to tap into those areas, draw out those abilities and enhance the strengths already there, you are privileged to have been part of someone's life in a very special way. All of us want to be accepted for who we are... not who other people want us to be so in this situation with this social skills course it was about finding the children's strengths, harnessing them creatively and as they start to bloom, assisting them in their areas of difficulties. It is a powerful process to watch and one I have been personally touched by. 

Late last year I received a phone call from a family to ask if Cloud 9 Children's Foundation ran a Social Skills Programme that their son could attend. We did not. They talked about how he used to have lots of friends but as he had got older he was withdrawing more and more and his friendships were changing, almost at the point where he had none. Having experienced this with my own son, it was really a case of finding a solution to a problem that was not being met in the city for various reasons. So the seed was sown and over the next few months I discussed with various parents their ideas, thoughts, desires and wants for their children. I was also trying to find that person who I could team up with that could complement my abilities. I found that someone in Teresa Wood. We rallied around ideas and thoughts and finally decided to bite the bullet and plan a social skills programme. 

Using our knowledge, ideas and practical experience with three AS children between us as well as my administrative skills and Teresa's experience as a special needs teacher we created an individual programme for a group of 10 kids who we had observed over a period of time in other social settings. E.g. gym fun days school. Our goal was to build a peer network among these children city wide so that when all the social, physical and emotional changes in their lives occur, some form of stability in their friendships remains. Our other goal was to work on the areas their families had said were areas of difficulties and incorporate that into fun filled activities. We used the children's areas of interest to find and create these activities. 

There has been a mixture of laughter, tears, fun and sadness. Success and not so at times... but we have learnt, listened and appreciated every single person - adult and child - knowing, understanding and becoming wiser through the process. 

Introducing: Teresa Wood

Like Karen, I saw that the need for social skills teaching for AS people was not being met. Unless a child has severe academic needs or behaviour that is so extreme that they disrupt other people's lives, they seldom qualify for extra assistance in schools or in the health sector. So our children are left to fend for themselves in a world which can be confusing and at times hostile. 

Our family was fortunate. Our son qualified for ORRS funding under the old Transition to School scheme, and it was great for him. He had a teacher aide to help keep him focussed at writing time in his first years at school and to work on physical skills as he became able to write independently. He also had a teacher to work on social and communication skills. Even though he no longer receives ORRS funding, he is still showing the benefits of the extra input in those early years. 

That experience provided my primary motivation. A relatively small amount of extra help made a huge difference in his life. I knew that for other children it must be the same and so I decided to support Karen with the social skills group. 

Of course I didn't ever think that we would be writing it as well as turning up on the day! I thought that there were 'experts' who did that kind of thing. But what I have come to realise over the time is that the mums and dads of AS people are the experts on AS. Of course we can all learn something more and most of us feel out of our depths at times. However, we have already learnt coping strategies. Have learned to give the kids warning before we change their routine, plus learnt to remind them to say 'please' and 'thank you' because it affects the way others view you, etc. We know the areas that they need to work on and the way they learn best. 

We know that it has been worthwhile because we have seen how much the children have grown. The bit we weren't expecting is how much the adults have learned through being 'thrown in the deep end'! 

Greer's Poems

These delightful poems were written by Greer, one of the course's participants, on her own accord. Enjoy!

S OCIAL SKILLS

O utrageous adventures

C aring adults

I love playing games

A dventures always waiting for me

L ucy my buddy


S haring, caring is what we do

K ids have fun

I like going to City Rock, Promo King, Daytona 

L earnt manners and to think of others

L ots of fun new experiences

S OCIAL SKILLS are what we do!!!

SOCIAL SKILLS is playing

SOCIAL SKILLS is fun

SOCIAL SKILLS is always great

SOCIAL SKILLS challenges me all the time

SOCIAL SKILLS you can make friends

SOCIAL SKILLS IS THE BEST

More Information

If you would like to find out more about this exciting group please contact the Foundation. You can find all the Foundation's contact details by clicking the "Contact or Join Us" button on the left.