The Social Butterflies Club Social Lanuage Program Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I enroll my child in a social skills group? We have found in treating many children with ASD and speech/language disorders that pragmatic skills are greatly delayed. Pragmatic skills are the foundation to language skills. These skills are developed early on starting from infancy. However, just as some children require expressive language therapy some children need to be taught social/pragmatic skills. We have found great success in group therapy as it facilitates a naturalistic environment to learn how to interact and respond to children. We also incorporate therapy in actual social situations too, since these are the settings that children will require their social knowledge.
What kinds of children are in the social skills group?The groups are developed for any child at risk for a pragmatic language delay: mild to severe and/or any child who has difficulty interacting with peers, responding to social cues, or using language to navigate through their environment effectively.
What exactly do you teach in the social skills group?Group objectives incorporate social pragmatic skills which include but are not limited to: eye contact, turn-taking, requesting information/objects, appropriate answers to wh- questions, appropriate responses to greeting/salutations, following directions, recognizing verbal and nonverbal social cues, predicting social responses, problem-solving, predicting outcomes, maintaining a topic, and asking for help. How do I know what group to enroll my child?The process for enrollment starts with an initial assessment on the referred child in order to accurately determine the child's pragmatic abilities (ie strengths and weaknesses). This assessment may include formal and informal testing instruments. Upon completion of assessment, we place the child within the appropriate group. This placement will be based on PRAGMATIC SKILL LEVEL. Please keep in mind that this level may be different from the child's age level. How are the social skills groups set up?There are now four social groups:
PURPLE BUTTERFLIES- preparatory (for those children that are not quite ready for the blue group.)
BLUE BUTTERFLIES-basic skills
RED & GREEN BUTTERFLIES-advanced skills
YELLOW BUTTERFLIES-adolescent group/peer helpers.
These groups are arranged according to general level of ability rather than a chronological age. Groups will not be any larger than 6 children or smaller than 3 children. Each session includes activities which were designed according to a theme or unit. These activities are constructed using: social stories, board games, role-playing, manipulatives, reinforcers, and community outings (which may incur a small fee). How long is a session?The groups meet once a week for an hour. A Session includes 4 group meetings. You will be billed in advance for the session. What is the cost?The cost is $200.00 per session ($50.00 per week)- $250.00 per session for 2 hour Summer Camps. There may be an activity fee included depending on the community outing that is scheduled. There is a one time fee of $80.00 for the initial placement screening. Due to our limited number of spaces, we ask that tuition be paid in advance. We can not pro-rate tuition for missed classes. Will my insurance cover the cost of the group?Although some insurance policies cover speech-language therapy, it is on an individual basis for a medical necessity only. We have kept the cost of each session to around the same price as a co-payment. However, we are happy to provide you with any information needed to use your health flex spending accounts for payment of groups.
