My Three Aspies have some truly classic social moments. I think the highlights this week were Bailey sitting on his best friend's head, who was already injured, after he’d fallen from a swing – just to see if he was still alive. Crawling under a 20cm high spider infested wooden structure, to stop the other boys from hitting him in dodge ball. And streams of tears when after 30 consecutive school days playing nothing but Lego, friends decided they needed a five-day break. Social skills are difficult, but for my boys, it's a whole world that may as well be in a different language that they have no idea how to unpack.
On the look out for a great social skills program I have had the pleasure of meeting Emma Watson. Emma is the sort of teacher that anyone with “that kid” would love. One day Emma came to the realization that her favourite part of teaching was hanging out with the kids that were struggling. Helping kids find a solution to the issues they were dealing with. I’m not sure if this epiphany came as she sat for endless counseling sessions in the hallways or when she saw how at times, some teachers just weren’t cut out for dealing with the quirky. But Emma saw a need, and took a leap to become Bloom Educational Consulting.
On the look out for a great social skills program I have had the pleasure of meeting Emma Watson. Emma is the sort of teacher that anyone with “that kid” would love. One day Emma came to the realization that her favourite part of teaching was hanging out with the kids that were struggling. Helping kids find a solution to the issues they were dealing with. I’m not sure if this epiphany came as she sat for endless counseling sessions in the hallways or when she saw how at times, some teachers just weren’t cut out for dealing with the quirky. But Emma saw a need, and took a leap to become Bloom Educational Consulting.
Helping kids with social skills is Emma’s passion and she, along with a team of specially chosen speech therapists, occupational therapist and educators all over Australia are running a program called SAS – Secret Agent Society. Your child gets the chance to become a secret agent and unlock the keys to social skills. From recognizing emotions, making friends and dealing with confusion to recognizing when someone is bored talking over and over and over about Lego; this program has it all. And I have to say, the packaging is impressive. After seeing the glossy codebook, key ring stress ball and walky talky, I wanted to join in. Forget about the kids, this program looks like great fun for me!
The program has computer based assignments, achievement levels and schoolyard detective work. At the end of it all, for the child, is a shinny medal. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to be a part of an Agency with those rewards? But shiny medals and glossy code books aside, the real benefit of this program, that I find so many other social skills classes are missing, is that we, as parents, get help. And I’m not talking about a can of spider spray incase WE feel the need to run and hide under a platform after one of those days, like yesterday, but that’s another story. After every kid’s session, there’s a thirty-minute parent session to learn the lingo, the secrets, to help reinforce the lessons, I mean secret codes.
If you’re looking for an interactive social skills program that your kids will love attending, you can find Emma’s details, and details of the program on her website:
http://www.bloomeducation.com.au/sas
You can also check out the program in detail at:
http://www.sst-institute.net
Good luck Secret Agents!
If you’re looking for an interactive social skills program that your kids will love attending, you can find Emma’s details, and details of the program on her website:
http://www.bloomeducation.com.au/sas
You can also check out the program in detail at:
http://www.sst-institute.net
Good luck Secret Agents!