Children's Social Skills Group - NEW DATE: September 19

Due to scheduling issues, the Children's Social Skills Group will now start Saturday, September 19, from 10:30-11:30am. The group will meet every other Saturday (9/19, 10/3, 10/17, 10/31, 11/14, 11/21). 

RSVP today! 919-941-2900 or Pfeiffer.Reach@Pfeiffer.edu

    The social skills group offered at Pfeiffer Institute Reach provides children ages 5-8 with the opportunity to increase social skills and peer interactions.  The group will sharpen social skills common for this age group, including meeting peers, maintaining friendships, and sharing.  In addition, the group will focus on helping children to respond appropriately to challenging social situations such as losing, apologizing, and identifying and managing emotions.  Children will learn how to identify emotions, and connect emotional experiences to physical feelings through interactive and visual activities.  The group will focus on helping children to manage difficult emotions, such as anger and fear, and connect emotional experiences to social interactions through role-plays and group member interaction. 

    The social skills group is a great opportunity for any child who is experiencing Autism, behavioral issues, ADHD, social delays, anxiety, or emotional dysregulation.  The purpose of the group is to help children learn appropriate social responses, interact well with peers, and regulate emotion.

    The group facilitators, Toni Nicolsen and Nicole McCarthy, are advanced graduate students and therapist interns at Pfeiffer Institute Reach.  Toni has previous experience leading social skills groups for children with behavioral disorders and social anxiety.  She enjoys the interactive nature of a group setting and helping children engage in social and emotional experiences through hands-on activities and building peer relationships.  Nicole has been working with young children for several years, and has experience helping children to improve their social/emotional skills.  She enjoys helping children to better understand their emotions, while giving them tools to cope and express themselves in positive ways.

RSVP today! 919-941-2900 or Pfeiffer.Reach@Pfeiffer.edu

Children's Social Skills Group (5-8 years old) - starts Saturday, August 22

Does your child have a difficult time making friends?  Sharing?     Identifying and expressing feelings?

Let Pfeiffer Institute Reach help put a little pep in your child’s back to school step!

This group will provide your child with skills needed to make and maintain friendships, and get along better with their peers!

Children ages 5 to 8 years old.

 Every other weekend starting on Saturday, August 22 from 10:30 AM-11:30 AM

RSVP today! Seating is limited! 919-941-2900

Raising a Child with Autism: Helpful Tips and Coping Strategies

By Leah Leynor, Reach Therapist Intern 

If you are raising a child with Autism you may often feel stressed, lonely, overwhelmed, and uncertain of what challenges might await you in the days, weeks, or months ahead. Many days might seem like a balancing act as you are trying to focus upon your autistic child as well as the needs of your other family members. It may also seem as though you are misunderstood and that others around do not seem to understand the effects that autism has had upon your family’s life. According to one parent of a special needs child on what she wished the others knew, “I would probably say the stress and impact that autism has on a family structure and marriages. You have to be care giver, therapist, educator, lawyer, maid, and referee at all times your marriage is impacted because you have no energy for one another. You feel guilty because you feel you are neglecting your typical child in some way or fashion because you are doing so much for your autistic child.”

We at Pfeiffer Institute Reach are here to help you find support, develop productive methods to communicate with your spouse and others, and learn strategies to include siblings that will help strengthen family relationships. We will also help you figure out what is or is not working in your routine and schedule that may prove beneficial in providing some of the stability and structure that helps your autistic child to cope with his / her day as well as allows your family to function. We are able to also assist you in working on behavior plans that may include consequences/rewards or incentive charts to promote positive behaviors in your children. It is our hope that you are able to feel supported, understood, and empowered as you continue your journey parenting a child with autism.

If you are impacted by raising a child with Autism, we at Pfeiffer Institute Reach are happy to help you by providing support, education, and coping strategies as you work towards a positive future with your child. Contact Pfeiffer Institute Reach today at 919-941-2900 to RSVP for our free workshop on Raising a Child with Autism: Helpful Tips and Coping Strategies on Thursday, May 22nd and May 24th from 6-8pm.  We look forward to working with you!

Parenting a Child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder

by Milliann Abrams, Reach Therapist Intern

March 30th to April 5th marks National Autism Awareness Week!!

Having a child with this disorder can be tough for everyone involved. Listed below are some helpful tips.
 Being on the same page. Having a congruent parenting team is effective in helping the child to manage and reduce symptoms.
     o It is important for parents to communicate with each other and to make sure you both enforce the same rewards and consequences. One helpful way to do this is to make a list of positive and negative behaviors and what their rewards and consequences will be. These are also proven to be more effective when the child is enlisted to think of some rewards.
 Consistency
     o Following a schedule is helpful to children diagnosed with autism. For example: Having a set bed time, a set time for homework, and a set time for free time.
 Consequences & Rewards
     o If a child exhibits an inappropriate behavior, have a system of consequences in place, the same goes for rewards! If a child does his/her chores the first time you ask, give them verbal praise. It will increase the chances of that behavior happening again.
 Check-Ins
     o Check in with all those involved to see what is working or not working for the child, or for helpful ideas. That can include any doctors, the school, coaches, friends, anyone involved in the child’s life
 Age Appropriate
    o Make sure any chores, tasks, rewards, or consequences are age-appropriate for the child. Each child goes through different developmental stages, so it is important to make sure that child understands.
 Effectiveness
    o If a child loves watching television, then that would be appropriate to reward them with, or to take away television time as a consequence. If a child doesn’t normally watch a lot of television, than there may be a better incentive to reward them with to increase their motivation.
 Talk
    o Talk to each other. It is important to have open communication.
 Self Care
    o Parenting a child is stressful, it is important for both parents to take time to care for themselves and de-stress.

During National Autism Awareness Week, Reach is offering the first session free to anyone with a family member diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. To schedule an appointment , please contact Pfeiffer Institute Reach today: (919) 941-2900 or www.pfeifferreach.org.

The Big News: Your Child Has Autism

by Mackenzie Toland, Therapist Intern

        It can be a frightening experience to find out that your child has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). You may have a number of questions about not only what your child’s future look like but also what your future will look like.  It is probably also new that you have to find resources to help your child that may be more costly than you can afford right now. There are so many changes that take place for the whole family when a child receives a diagnosis that it can be extremely overwhelming.

Your child has a diagnosis of a developmental disability and you may be feeling any number of emotions. Take a moment and realize that it is completely normal to be scared or even be angry. Some even experience great levels of depression. Whatever you may be experiencing, it is important to understand that taking care of yourself emotionally is imperative for your child’s success. Aside from the emotions that you may be experiencing, you have probably found yourself wondering ‘now what?’ You have been handed a great responsibility and an opportunity to help your child and family grow in ways that you never imagined. You can use this opportunity to work on the strength of your marriage and the teamwork within your family all while helping your child to reach his or her fullest potential.

You can find lots of information online regarding services for your child. Personally, I have been trained in the behavior analytic approach and have seen great success with all of my clients. However, there are all kinds of therapies available and it is important to take the time to do the research to find out what is best for your child. Make sure you are looking for “best practice” when researching services for your child. In the meantime, set up an appointment with Pfeiffer Institute Reach – we are here for you and would love to support you through this process.