Social Skills Classes

Many children with Autism, ADHD, and other developmental and learning disabilities struggle with effective and appropriate social skills. They show deficits in encoding and being able to accurately perceive social cues. These difficulties can create a chasm between these children and their environment, reinforcing their emerging awareness of being “different.”

When children lack appropriate social functioning, their behaviors are often misunderstood, not only by their peers, but also by their teachers, other adults, and even their parents. Often, children can verbalize the “correct” social behavior in a specific teaching situation, yet they are unable to demonstrate the behavior at the correct time or with the correct degree of finesse. This is called a social performance deficit. The inability to “perform” what others assume they know increases their sense of failure and increases the judgment and negative attention.

Social skills include the ability to regulate one’s attention, emotion, and energy. This requires the ability to accurately observe, make a mental decision, and incorporate all the nuances and shades of responses. This ability to modulate is a key in successful social interactions and public behavior.

Cooperation, problem solving, ignoring provocation, accepting what one cannot change, and communication are a few of the skills that need to be acquired for successful social functioning.

To teach these skills, it is necessary to utilize a consistent vocabulary, definition of the skill, and help the child internalize the concept. Significant practice and collaboration with parents and the schools will amplify the child’s ability to generalize these skills, which is critical for success. Expanded world, and the skills become known to the child, but not demonstrated.

UCP’s Social Skills classes are conducted in a 6-week series teaching teens and children a set of specific social skills using evidence-based techniques to help them be more successful and effective socially and emotionally. Some of the specific skills and topics addressed include:

• Regulation of emotion, attention and energy

• Reading social cues

• Friendship skills

• Nonverbal and verbal communication

• Problem solving in social situations

• Cooperation and teamwork

• Ignoring provocation

• Concepts of theory of mind, cause and effect and positive power

• Assertiveness and appropriately advocating for yourself

Parents are required to attend the first meeting with their child. Dr. Woolard will provide detailed information concerning the course curriculum, how to assist your child in “homework” for the family to work on together, and how parents are to reinforce their child’s emerging skills.

Who is the therapist?

UCP’s Social Skills classes are conducted by Dr. Robbi Woolard, licensed psychologist. Dr. Woolard has over 30 years of experience working with children and families in a variety of settings including schools, treatment centers, and private practice. For the past eight years, she was Director of Clinical Services and the Social Skill program at UCI Child Development Center. She has extensive experience in parent training and education, and has conducted numerous workshops and training for various schools and agencies.

Since Dr. Woolard is a licensed psychologist, families may be able to have the expense of the Social Skills series reimbursed by insurance, depending upon what service your individual plan covers. A physician’s prescription will be required by the insurance carrier.