Social Skills Therapy

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Registered: 11-07-2004
Social Skills Therapy
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Tue, 06-06-2006 - 11:15pm

I can see this is going to be on eof the first area's that we will need to explore with my son. From what I read this type of therpay is done in a group setting with other children to help with social skills. I am wondering if others have done this and if you felt it was sucessful for your child. Also, is this something insurance companies typically pay for? I am afraid I might know the answer to this but hoping I am wrong. Also, from what I have read, this is very expensive. Another question...Is this something AS children need on an ongoing basis?

Thanks

Melissa

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Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 12:40am

My ds will be getting social skills "group" at school 1x/ week.

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 5:53am

Hi Melissa:

My son participates in a "social" group at school. Our councelor at school has it set up weekly -- basically Adam sees her on his own and they talk about "socially" acceptable issues -- along with that, he is learning all about autism and that he his a different way of thinking. Then she has him in a group with 3 to 5 other people -- they play games and he doesn't always win. They talk and just be social. He has been in a group like this since kindergarten. It seems to work well.

I have not heard of ones that you can send your child to-- I wish they had something like that in our area. I would think especially for the summer that you could get this group written into his IEP and the school would cover the cost. If they won't do that, it should be covered under insurance because it is a therapy based program. It sure wouldn't hurt to make a call to your insurance company and inquire.

Amy

Amy
 
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Registered: 02-24-2005
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 8:46am

Melissa,

My son Chase has AS and is 8 years old. He goes to a local therapist once a week for social skills training and it is the absolute highlight of his week. Admittedly she fills them with junk food and lets them play board games but interspersed are lessons in how to properly communicate with the other children. She always begins with a lesson and then starts game time during which the lesson is reinforced. It has helped him a great deal but as it goes with those types of therapies it's hard to measure how much is the maturation process and how much can be attributed to the acutal therapy. At the very least it gives him confidence.
Our insurance (Humana) covers this type of therapy under mental health but the charge is only about $40 a session. Much less than it costs for many sports programs and just as beneficial if not more. HTH, Vicky

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Registered: 02-20-2001
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 9:54am

WE started Bobby in one this spring.

 


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Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 10:34am

Son's school does an informal social skills group.....he refers to it as Friendship Club. He and 2-4 other boys meet for lunch in the guidance counselor's office. They eat together and then play a game or play with legos.....the whole time the counselor is there making sure that they keep socially acceptable distance from each other, prompting them on conversations, reminding them of certain social rules, etc. I believe next year (new school), they are going to try to do this more than once a week and it will be mixed with some NT kids as well.

For the summer, some of the moms from our local support group have formed a social skills group to meet once a week and do different activities.....going to the park and trying an organized game like Tball or soccer, doing crafts, science experiments, etc.

There are also a couple of speech therapists around us who offer social skills groups.....the one he will start meets on Saturdays and runs for 1.5 hrs (I think) and it cost $70 per session. I don't think this will be covered by our insurance.....they are dragging their feet on getting back to me.

HTH,
Christie

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 11:10am

Mike does social play with one other peer (NT but quirky - gifted, and a family friend) with his private psych. He needed a group but can't handle a group so Dr. Sarah has us bring a friend with Mike and she works with him that way. We will hopefully start a group for him by the end of the summer if we can get him ready since Dr. Sarah is going on maternity leave then. Mike does a social skills group in school as well.

Cait has social skills daily in school as a class. We are going to change that next year to a private social skills group of girls since right now she is the only girl in her program. She also has done the social skills play dates with Dr. Sarah but has graduated from them a while ago. Well actually the girl she was going with wasn't an appropriate peer for Cait and Cait was ready for a full group rather than individual. However, she has just been asked to join another AS girl with Sarah to work on social skills for the summer and establish a friendship.

What isn't covered in school is covered by our behavioral health insurance as long as the psychologist for the group is a provider under our insurance. The one place around here that does social skills groups just became a provider for my insurance recently when they hired a clinical psych. It was previously run by an educational psych and they can't bill insurance. At least not mine.

Check if you have behavioral or mental health coverage on your insurance. If you do call them and see what they cover and who thier providers are in your area and start shopping around.

Renee




Edited 6/7/2006 11:12 am ET by rbear4
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Registered: 01-19-2005
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 4:13pm

Eric is only 4 and we have just started a social skills group, and have been very pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.

A local therapy center has a group that meets for an hour once a week on Saturdays. There is an OT and ST who run it together. There are 4 kids, same age and skill level. They do a variety of fun activities and Eric loves it. Sometimes they "cook" sometimes a craft, sometimes games etc. Not covered by insurance, but it is only $45 per week.

This center is not where Eric gets his regular therapy, but it is kind cool in that it is parent-run and they have lots of social opportunities for a variety of ages and levels. The teen social skills group is especially active, it seems. I can tell we will be involved here in the the future too.

Also, the moms started a "family club" where anyone (even if they are not enrolled) can participate in group activities. We arrange with a bowling alley, a movie theater, the zoo, any business that is up to it to have a special ASD family day. It is really nice just to do these things and not worry about what others think. This isn't really for "social skills" but it is a nice bonding experience for us all.

In ST, Eric has been mostly doing pragmatic stuff. The therapist kind of has him "practice" certain things that he can try out on the playground, at his skills class, at home. So far that is working fine. I can see it evolving over time to what everyone with older children mentioned.

So yes, it is helpful, at least so far, since we just started!

Katherine

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Registered: 02-20-2001
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 4:26pm
Thats about what we pay for ours also.

 


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Registered: 01-19-2005
Wed, 06-07-2006 - 6:24pm

Hi Tina,

Same here and you are right, it is kind of free therapy for the moms! LOL!

Katherine

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Registered: 11-07-2004
Thu, 06-08-2006 - 12:09pm

Thank you all so much. Lots of great information. I also talked to a very nice women at a child therapy center who gave me the low down on costs and so forth associated with AS. It looks like we should be covered by insurance on speech and OT but not on social skills (which is our biggest issue). The can easily be very expensive when you throw the co-pays in for the other stuff that is covered. I just needed to get a real picture on what I need to expect. We will most surely need to cut back on some things to be able to afford this. However, I am quite a spender and could use some discipline anyway. LOL

Melissa