What
skills do you plan to target? (the following is not all-inclusive)
- Making
Friends (eye contact, conversational skills, sharing, taking turns)
- Perspective
Taking, Taking another person’s point of view, Predicting Feelings
- Communicating
Feelings
- Recognizing Impulses & Solving Problems
- Giving/Receiving Compliments
- Dealing
with Putdowns/Teasing
- Identifying Anger Triggers
- Learning
to Calm Down & Manage Anger
- Keeping out of Fights
- Anticipating
Consequences of one’s actions
- Telephone Conversation Skills
- Critical Thinking, Abstract Reasoning, & Inferential Thinking
What
else should my child learn?
- How to interact appropriately with others in a variety of situations
- Understand the importance of expectations and rules
- How
to better comply with limits set
- How to follow rules for groups, classroom activities, sports, and
other social situations
- Basic sports skills, good sportsmanship, cooperation,
teamwork
- Ways to better tolerate and handle frustration
- Making and answering telephone calls
- Self-control
in conflict situations
Special Activities
The daily schedule includes social skills and problem-solving training, sports and
recreational activities, arts and crafts activities, lunch, snack, supervised play activities to promote friendship-building
and learning to play various games appropriately, academic-related activities focusing on social skills, and exchanging points
for prizes at the reward store.
There are also various special activities, which may include many of the following:
Therapeutic Dogs, science presentation/activity, magician, visit from professional baseball player, animal show, musicians, carnival
games, etc.
Why choose HI-STEP summer
social skills program?
Positive responses on satisfaction surveys and anecdotal reports from parents
and children
Positive
feedback
from school personnel
HI-STEP
Summer Social Skills Program provides more frequent and more intensive social skills training compared to traditional
summer programs and weekly summer social skills groups.
Generalization opportunities are provided through activities recommended for
the home and community, parent training, and a summary of strategies staff members found to be effective.
Many children attend HI-STEP as
their Extended
School Year (ESY) program, funded by their respective school district.
Excellent opportunity for learning, fun, and friendship-making
For whom is HI-STEP appropriate?
HI-STEP is designed for children with difficulties displaying appropriate social
skills and problem-solving skills. The program commonly is appropriate for children with special education needs, including
high-functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders (e.g., Asperger's Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, PDD-NOS), Non-verbal
Learning Disabilities, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, and symptoms of anxiety, shyness, obsessive-compulsiveness, etc.
A diagnosis or special education classification is not required for enrollment in HI-STEP.
Other
Important Information
* All children are carefully screened prior to acceptance.
*
Children are grouped based
upon age, strength and needs relative to the other children in the group, and based upon the determination of the best
match with specific counselors.
*There are specific social problem-solving skills targeted for all students in the
program. We also teach children how to problem-solve so they can potentially handle any social situation.
Additionally, there are individual goals for each child (determined after the first several days of the program and based
upon parent input).
*Staff members rate each child's behavior and social skills after each activity
every day and provide ongoing feedback to the children. A daily scorecard and comments are sent home every day for parent
feedback.
* 2 Parent Seminars, focusing on gaining compliance, providing reinforcement, reducing
negative behaviors, promoting social skills, generalizing positive behaviors across settings, etc.
