Help with socialization

When my son was about a year and a half, our therapist told me one of the most important things I could do for my son was to get him out and around other kids. She encouraged play groups, activities like gymnastics, and churches that had mother’s day out programs. Over the years we have added to this list. Here is what we have done to help with socialization:

·         Playgroups- This has not always been easy. Some parents and children have had a hard time understanding as we work through this process; however, we have found some that are a great fit. If you are having a hard time finding friends for your child, you can always look for someone at therapy.

 

·         Activities- We have done gymnastics, soccer, and swimming. They have been wonderful activities to work on socialization and are great for motor skills too. If you have a Little Gym in your area, I highly recommend it for gymnastics. They do learning units with the gymnastics skills to help with academics.

 

·         Mother’s day out- I choose a two year academic preschool for 3 and 4 year olds for my son, so he could improve socially, as well as academically.

 

·         Playgrounds- We go to indoor playgrounds like the ones at McDonalds and Chickfila, as well as local outdoor playgrounds.

 

·         Library- Our local library has been a huge blessing for teaching social skills. They have weekly activities including story time. During the summer, they have daily activities, and it is all free!

 

·         Social groups – With the rise of Autism and SPD, several cities have started social play groups that are facilitated by a behavior specialist or psychologist. Our son is in a group with five other boys, and they meet every other week in different social settings to work on social skills. You can find out if your city or town offers a program like this by talking to your therapist or contacting psychologist or behavior specialist in your area.

 

·         Church- Sunday school and childcare offered during bible study are also ways to help your child socialize. Along with socialization, they learn about God and his love for them which I think is pretty awesome!

 

·         Social programs- There are also social programs that you can purchase online to help your child. My favorite program is found at:  www.socialthinking.com . They offer social books for younger children. For school age children, they have a program called Superflex. It is a program about super heroes and villains. My son loves it! For middle school and high school, they have a book on social concepts, and it includes worksheets.

 

·         Social stories- These are short stories that you write or find online to help your child with a certain social skill like “Asking a Friend to Play”. If you write the story, keep it simple. One to two sentences per page. We have even drawn our own pictures in to reinforce what we have learned.

 

The best advice my therapist gave me was to get my child out there to help him not withdraw. It was very challenging at first. During social activities, he required a warm up time that sometimes lasted thirty minutes before he was able to join the group. There have also been several meltdowns while trying to learn social skills, but our efforts have paid off. Now, his warm up time is two to five minutes. On good days he walks right in. His eye contact and speech have improved, so he is feeling more confident talking to other children. There are days when he wants to withdraw, but on most days he is right there hanging out with children his age.