Social Skills Program

The Social Skills group meets twice a week for all High School students and four times a week in the Super 8 program.  The Social Skills program helps students to learn appropriate Social Skills and Pragmatic Language usage in an authentic and purposeful manner.  In addition to the group meetings students are taken on outings twice a year that both challenge the students to use the new skills and allow them to learn new skills.  Below is a outline of the Skills and Goals of the Social Skills Program.

Freshmen Year

Social Skills:

Eye Contact

  • - When talking to others; Acknowledging you’re listening to others

Body Language

  • - Body language to indicate you’re listening to others
  • - Reading subtle body language clues – can report

Conversational Skills

  • - Taking Turns in conversation, not interrupting others, able to allow others to join conversation
  • - Flexibility of topic, continue flow when topic changes
  • - Entering/exiting a conversation without help

Emotions

  • - Identifying own emotions when asked
  • - Reading others’ facial expressions when asked
  • - Appropriately expressing own emotions

Peer Relationships

  • - Introducing yourself appropriately
  • - Friendship management – ask and accept feedback on skills, develop and maintain at least one friendship
  • - Using the phone; Making plans for after school at least once a session

Self-Care Skills

  • - Basic Hygiene; shower, breath, hair, clothes
  • - Sleep management
  • - Medication, with reminders
  • - Understand healthy nutrition

Psychoeducation:

  • - What is Asperger’s Syndrome? What is Nonverbal Learning

Disorder

  • - Why do we need social skills?
  • - What are MY issues?

Field Trip Goals:

  • Basic transportation skills (e.g. taking Bart, bus; reading a map)
  • Socializing in a group setting – compromise and patience

Expectations from home:

  • Practice transportation
  • Support friendship management skills
  • Support Self-Care Skills at home

ALERT Program

  • - Students learn various self-regulation strategies. Teachers reinforce and encourage students to use their chosen ALERT strategies. ALERT strategies (e.g. candies, squishy balls) are available in all classrooms.

 

Sophomore Year

Social Skills:

Manners: Group video project

  • - Appropriate eating behaviors; Cleaning up after yourself
  • - Pleasantries (e.g. hello/goodbye)
  • - Requesting help; Handling confrontations
  • - Body boundaries

Peer Relationships

  • - Teasing – understand it, not engage in it
  • - Organizing get-togethers/maintaining and expanding friendships to more than one person, creating a friendship group

Time Management

  • - Planning ahead
  • - Using your watch
  • - Taking responsibility for your time management

Organization Skills

  • - Responsibility of class work/grades (e.g. checking Powerschool)
  • - Reminder strategies, using tools taught at school
  • - Stress/Anxiety Management
  • - What is stress? What is anxiety?
  • - Strategies to reduce stress/anxiety

Psychoeducation:

Medications

  • - Understanding own medication and taking medication without reminder

Field Trip Goals:

  • - Advanced transportation skills
  • - Time management
  • - Socializing in a group setting
  • - Team Building – working together

Expectations from home:

  • - Encourage students to get-together with peers outside of Orion once/month
  • - Encourage time management skills (e.g. alarm; arrive to school on time)
  • - Support student taking responsibility for medications at home

ALERT

  • - Students learn about stress, effects of stress, and various strategies to relieve stress/anxiety, such as meditation, visualization, exercise, sleep, and nutrition.

 

Junior Year

Social Skills:

Responsibility/Independence Skills

  • - Arriving on time; to school, classes, events
  • - Work completed on time (less reliance on HW CLUB)
  • - Notifying others when absent/late
  • - Scheduling Dr.’s appointments
  • - Chores at home to overlap with living skills
  • - Living skills to include; clean room, clothing maintenance, homework

Empathy

  • - How to read nonverbal cues/feeling in others and acting accordingly
  • - How to convey that you understand others’ feelings

Assertive Skills/ Conflict Resolution

  • - Criticism and Compliments –giving and taking
  • - Handling Peer Pressure
  • - Appropriate self advocacy, especially in school setting

Transition Skills (in conjunction with Transition 11 Class)

Job Skills

  • - How to search for jobs
  • - Develop a resume
  • - Practice interview skills

College Planning

  • - How to search for colleges; visiting a college campus
  • - Personal Project completion on Job or College search
  • - Volunteer or Internship junior year (optional but recommended)

Legal rights/Accessing resources

  • - What is IDEA?
  • - What services will you need in college/job, how will you get them?

Psychoeducation:

Understanding psychological issues you may encounter

  • - What is depression?
  • - What is anxiety?
  • - How will Asperger’s/NLD affect my college or job experience?
  • - What resources can I use out there to help me?

Field Trip Goals:

  • - Interactions with members of the community
  • - Exploring resources after Orion (e.g. St. Mary’s college visit)

Expectations from home:

  • - Regular performance of independence skills (e.g. laundry; grocery shopping, appointments, preparing own lunch, driving or use of public transportation)
  • - Explore possibilities after Orion (e.g. visit a college; find a local job)

 

Senior Year

Social Skills:

Job Searching

  • - Using the internet
  • - Filling out an application
  • - Interview skills; Mock interviews

College Searching

  • - Questions to ask when researching;
  • - Meeting deadlines, getting necessary information

Independence Skills –

  • - Completing the 6 TASKS (see Careers and Colleges syllabus)
  • - Employment skills/Interview skills
  • - Preparing for emergencies

Teenage Issues

  • - Dating
  • - Identity issues
  • - Turning 18/ Legal rights

Goal Setting Skills

  • - Activity scheduling and planning
  • - Problem solving

Preparation for Graduation

  • - Requirements
  • - Graduation Speeches

Field Trip Goals:

  • Senior field trip will address the integration of skills learned throughout their years at Orion Academy.

Expectations from home:

  • - Money management (e.g. allowance and expectations that they spend it on wanted items)
  • - Independence Skills of all 4 years continued and added to
  • - Support of Community Service requirement (30 hours) and support for completion of all paperwork and documentation

Senior Challenge

  • The Senior Challenge occurs at the end of the school year. This is a scavenger hunt where students solve clues and complete a number of tasks, such as interacting with members of the community, navigating around town, using maps, asking directions, ordering food, and money management. Students stay overnight at a hotel in San Jose.