Confidence Connection is a fun and unique place for children with special needs to learn valuable social skills. We teach children underlying skills they need to help them understand and acquire both basic and advanced social skills, using a total communication approach. Children with PDD/Autism and other developmental disabilities often lack social skills and therefore miss out on the enjoyment and value of a good friendship. Some of our students still need beginner social skills such as, eye-contact and how to greet other children. Some need special help even to be around other children or to learn the value of their peers. On the other hand, many of our students have undergone social skills therapy and learned rote skills, such as when a person says hello, they are able to say hello back, but have difficulty maintaining the conversation.
Program Emphasis
Gender
Type Of Stay
Location
AD/HD Autism Cognitive Disabilities Developmental Disabilities Learning Disabilities Social Skills
Coed
Day Camp
Newton, MA
Average Cost
Financial Assistance
Age Range
Capacity
Less Than $300 (week)
Not Available
3 - 13
40
Session Lengths
Food/Nutritional Notes:
4 Week Session
6 Week Session
8 Week Session
Not Available
Session Information
Confidence Connection is a fun and unique place for children with special needs to learn valuable social skills. We teach children underlying skills they need to help them understand and acquire both basic and advanced social skills, using a total communication approach. Children with PDD/Autism and other developmental disabilities often lack social skills and therefore miss out on the enjoyment and value of a good friendship. Some of our students still need beginner social skills such as, eye-contact and how to greet other children. Some need special help even to be around other children or to learn the value of their peers. On the other hand, many of our students have undergone social skills therapy and learned rote skills, such as when a person says hello, they are able to say hello back, but have difficulty maintaining the conversation.
At Confidence Connection campers not only learn beginning social skills (Beginner Learner), but those ready (Advanced Learners) to also learn how to analyze why someone is saying hello in the first place, multiple responses s/he could use, and how to choose the most appropriate response based upon the person's non-verbal cues and inference of the message. In this sense, our campers learn to communicate more naturally and with more inherent understanding. Below are some of the goals and objectives targeted at Confidence Connection:
Beginner Learner Skills:
Eye-contact
Greetings
Initiating conversation
Topic maintenance
Turn-taking
Following directions
Structured play
Pretend play
Accepting no
More About Camp
At Confidence Connection campers not only learn beginning social skills (Beginner Learner), but those ready (Advanced Learners) to also learn how to analyze why someone is saying hello in the first place, multiple responses s/he could use, and how to choose the most appropriate response based upon the person's non-verbal cues and inference of the message. In this sense, our campers learn to communicate more naturally and with more inherent understanding. Below are some of the goals and objectives targeted at Confidence Connection:
Beginner Learner Skills:
Eye-contact
Greetings
Initiating conversation
Topic maintenance
Turn-taking
Following directions
Structured play
Pretend play
Accepting no
Transitioning to activities
General Socialization & Communication
Initiating, monitoring, maintaining, and disengaging from conversations
Joining conversations or joining games already in progress
Spontaneous greetings to adults and peers
Using a combination of questions and comments when interacting with peers and adults
Cooperation, compromise, and negotiation with peers and adults
Advanced Learner Skills: Practice Greetings
Organization
Cooperative Projects
Meeting new people/initiating conversations (greetings)
Learning gestures, facial expressions and "figures of speech"
How to make friends (what discourages and encourages friendship)
Making play dates, planning play dates
Maintaining conversations and initiating conversations
General problem solving with peers/conflict resolution
How to keep friends/how to play without bossing people
Cooperating
Negotiating
Compromising
Being flexible
Identification of feelings such as others' non-verbal cues and one's own internal feelings.
Labeling feelings and understanding a range of emotion. (happy vs. elated/annoyed vs. angry, etc.)
Coping skills - what to do about what you feel - learn 5 different techniques
What to do when other people are upset. What is an appropriate response?
How do your feelings and attitudes impact other people (peers & adults)? How can you make other people feel upset or happy?
Conflict resolution
Reading Non-Verbal Cues
Eye contact
Facial expressions
Tone of voice
Posture
"Typical" Peers
TYPICAL PEERS: Confidence Connection does enroll typical peers in our summer program. Typical peers are usually siblings, friends or neighbors of the students. There is typically at least one typical peer per group each day. There is no charge for enrollment of typical peers. Openings are limited. Please contact Confidence Connection for more information.
Groupings Students are grouped by both their age AND level of abilities. Higher level students may be with slightly older students. Lower level students may be with slightly younger students. All children are grouped so that they have appropriate peer models. Groups contain 4-5 children. Staffing is 2:1. All lead therapists are masters level teachers, speech and language pathologists and/or behavior consultants. All assistant therapists are typically undergrad students in the same fields as the above lead therapists.
Assessment and Placement: Prior to attending Confidence Connection each child will have a packet submitted by a parent or guardian that contains an application as well as, a copy of the child's recent IEP and any developmental or educational testing done within the past year. Assessment of the child's appropriateness for the program will be made mainly through the use of this packet and a phone conversation with the parents/guardians. In some cases the parent/guardian may be asked to bring in thier child for a brief observation.
Once enrolled in the program each student will be assessed to determine what goals/objectives are best suited for the student. The ABLLS: Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills is an assessment, curriculum guide, and skills tracking system for children with developmental, cognitive, social and/or language delays. The ABBLS contains a task analysis of the many skills necessary to communicate successfully and to learn from everyday experiences. The purpose of this assessment is to help identify those language and other critical skills that are in need of intervention in order for a child to become more capable of learning. The ABBLS scores help to determine educational priorities, and to help with the selection of appropriate educational objectives for an individual child.
Each student's first week of the summer program his/her lead therapist will screen them using the social and play components of the ABLLS. Based on that screening the therapist will develop individualized goals for each student.
Parent Feedback and Training: Once the student's goals are developed the parent will recieve a copy of the goals. The lead therapist will be collecting data on each goal frequently during each session. Parents will recieve weekly session notes summarizing how their child is performing and what his/her current strengths and weaknesses are. In addition, parents will receive weekly suggestions for generalizing their child's social/pragmatic goals outside-of the program. Parents are welcome to set-up a time to observe their child in a session and to meet with their child's lead therapist.
Activities & Features
Other Activities
Language and Social Skills APE Music Therapy and Speech Therapy
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