About Us
The Social Butterflies Club™ was founded in 2004 by Rhonda Osisek M.S., CCC-SLP. Rhonda created this program for a few of her clients that were having trouble interacting appropriately at school.
The clients were bright children, but were labeled “behavior” problems at school. They were disrespectful because they did not “listen” to the teachers (no eye contact). They were “loners” and did not participate in activities (they walked the perimeter of the playground/gym). They could not “sit still” at their desks (they stood at their desk, rocked in their chair, and chewed clothing while trying to complete assignments). They “pushed classmates” while standing in line (they bumped into their classmates or stood too close in line).
Rhonda thought that if she could get these clients in their natural environment to teach these “social graces” (pragmatic language skills), along with the help of some sensory integration techniques (that she had just learned from an OT friend), the clients could easily be taught how to act appropriately. Some social programs on the market tended to be too boring or too narrowly focused on one skill at a time. Rhonda had a large caseload of clients and needed a program to address multiple goals at one time. Otherwise, she’d be teaching social skills one at a time for the rest of the client’s life! So, using many techniques from various therapy methods (picture communication, social stories, structured language activities, etc.) she created a group plan to address multiple goals while incorporating sensory integration techniques to help the clients focus. The Social Butterflies Club was born!
Over the years it has been fine tuned and has grown to encompass all ages and social skill levels. The program was enormously successful in its ability to teach multiple social skills in a one time a week one hour group. The clients loved the fun themes and activities and learned the skills almost immediately.
Rhonda and her colleagues continue to run the program year round at their facility in Virginia Beach. Rhonda also trains other professionals in The Social Butterflies Program so that they too can benefit from effective caseload management and a more successful way to teach social skills.
The clients were bright children, but were labeled “behavior” problems at school. They were disrespectful because they did not “listen” to the teachers (no eye contact). They were “loners” and did not participate in activities (they walked the perimeter of the playground/gym). They could not “sit still” at their desks (they stood at their desk, rocked in their chair, and chewed clothing while trying to complete assignments). They “pushed classmates” while standing in line (they bumped into their classmates or stood too close in line).
Rhonda thought that if she could get these clients in their natural environment to teach these “social graces” (pragmatic language skills), along with the help of some sensory integration techniques (that she had just learned from an OT friend), the clients could easily be taught how to act appropriately. Some social programs on the market tended to be too boring or too narrowly focused on one skill at a time. Rhonda had a large caseload of clients and needed a program to address multiple goals at one time. Otherwise, she’d be teaching social skills one at a time for the rest of the client’s life! So, using many techniques from various therapy methods (picture communication, social stories, structured language activities, etc.) she created a group plan to address multiple goals while incorporating sensory integration techniques to help the clients focus. The Social Butterflies Club was born!
Over the years it has been fine tuned and has grown to encompass all ages and social skill levels. The program was enormously successful in its ability to teach multiple social skills in a one time a week one hour group. The clients loved the fun themes and activities and learned the skills almost immediately.
Rhonda and her colleagues continue to run the program year round at their facility in Virginia Beach. Rhonda also trains other professionals in The Social Butterflies Program so that they too can benefit from effective caseload management and a more successful way to teach social skills.
Rhonda Osisek M.S., CCC-SLP
Rhonda is the owner and director of Atlantic Speech Therapy, LLC. She is the creator of The Social Butterflies Social Language Program. Rhonda trains professionals across the country in The Social Butterflies Club program and provides consultation for school systems implementing social language programs. Recently, she has published several materials related to the Social Butterflies Program.
Rhonda was raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She currently resides in Virginia Beach with her husband and son. Rhonda received her Bachelors (97) and Masters (00) degrees in Speech-Language Pathology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Rhonda is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a Certified Member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. Rhonda also serves on the board for the Tidewater Autism Society of America.
Rhonda formerly was Director of Speech-Language Pathology at Shore Memorial Hospital. She also worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Rhonda has a special interest in working with children with pragmatic language delays, articulation disorders and those within the autism spectrum. She has extensive experience treating communication disorders in various populations including patients with central auditory processing disorders, aphasia, ADHD, ADD, developmental delay, visual impairment, hearing impairment, mental retardation, pervasive development disorder, dysphagia, apraxia, dysarthria, traumatic brain injury, cleft palate, articulation delay, language delay, voice disorders, and fluency disorders. Rhonda is a certified Beckman Oral Motor therapist and she is trained in the Kaufman Method for apraxia of speech.
Rhonda was raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She currently resides in Virginia Beach with her husband and son. Rhonda received her Bachelors (97) and Masters (00) degrees in Speech-Language Pathology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Rhonda is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a Certified Member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. Rhonda also serves on the board for the Tidewater Autism Society of America.
Rhonda formerly was Director of Speech-Language Pathology at Shore Memorial Hospital. She also worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Rhonda has a special interest in working with children with pragmatic language delays, articulation disorders and those within the autism spectrum. She has extensive experience treating communication disorders in various populations including patients with central auditory processing disorders, aphasia, ADHD, ADD, developmental delay, visual impairment, hearing impairment, mental retardation, pervasive development disorder, dysphagia, apraxia, dysarthria, traumatic brain injury, cleft palate, articulation delay, language delay, voice disorders, and fluency disorders. Rhonda is a certified Beckman Oral Motor therapist and she is trained in the Kaufman Method for apraxia of speech.
Heather Daniels COTA/L
Heather is the owner of Therapy Choice Occupational Therapy in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Heather has many years of experience treating children with sensory disorders, fine motor difficulties, and gross motor difficulties. Heather joined Rhonda in facilitating The Social Butterflies Club in 2009. Since then she has assisted in the development of the sensory portion of the program as well as the fine/gross motor portion.
