PEERS®
The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills
RECRUITING NOW
““PEERS® is a 16-week evidence-based social skills intervention for motivated adolescents in middle school or high school who are interested in learning ways to help them make and keep friends.” - PEERS®, UCLA website”
PEERS® is the only available evidence-based social skills program for adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder, and is used clinically for youth with ADHD, anxiety, depression and other social challenges. During each group session, teens are taught important social skills and are given the opportunity to practice these skills in session during socialization activities. Parents attend separate sessions at the same time and are taught how to assist their teens in making and keeping friends by helping to expand their teen’s social network and providing feedback through coaching during weekly socialization homework assignments.
Teens will learn how to:
• Use appropriate conversational skills
• Use humour appropriately
• Use electronic communication
• Enter & exit conversations
• Be a good host during get-togethers
• Be a good sport
• Handle arguments and disagreements
• Change a bad reputation
• Handle rumours and gossip
• Handle rejection, teasing and bullying
Program Details:
When: Recruiting now (Tentative Start Date: June 1, 2020; Program Time: Mondays from 4:30pm to 6:00 pm)
Where: Using Zoom online until further notice
*This program is eligible for funding through the Autism Funding Unit.
In most cases, the program fees can also be covered by extended health benefits, please fill out the form to inquire about it.
Program Leaders: Speech-language pathologists Fiona Hui, Sandy Wong and Paulina Vazquez are certified providers of PEERS® for Teens and Adolescents and received their training at the Semel Institute of UCLA. For more information about the PEERS® program, visit https://www.semel.ucla.edu/peers/teens.