Child First Family Services

Anxiety Reduction Skills Group for Children with Developmental Delays

This anxiety skills curriculum is for children (ages 8-18) who struggle with anxiety and are on the autism spectrum or have a developmental delay. Anxiety impacts many aspects of our life including social interactions, physical symptoms, avoidant behaviors, and school performance. 

8 sessions, 75 minutes each

Parents will receive information following groups to incorporate at home with their child.

Session 1: This session is to discuss the various forms of anxiety and how each one impacts your daily life.

Session 2: This session discusses anxiety busters that do not work.

Session 3: This session will discuss cognitive behavioral strategies to reduce anxiety.

Session 4: This session includes discussing how to identify physical symptoms related to anxiety and physical strategies to implement including breathing techniques, muscle relaxant strategies, and yoga.

Session 5: This session includes strategies that can be used within the classroom.

Session 6: This session discusses what test anxiety is and strategies to implement. Self-Talk and evaluating your study environment are included in the discussion.

Session 7: This session will focus on special strategies specific to sensory issues.

Session 8: This session will be focused on each student making their toolbox of strategies that are working or will possibly work to decrease anxiety.

Social Communication Skills Group

This social skills curriculum is for children (ages 8-18) who struggle with how to start conversations with others, how to maintain conversations, and end them. In addition, a review of how to read nonverbal social cues and learn strategies to “Fake it” to maintain healthy interactions with others will be reviewed. 

8 sessions, 75 minutes each

Facilitator will meet with parents for 15 minutes following the group and parents will receive information related to each session via by email including activities and concepts to continue incorporating within the home. 

Session 1: This session will discuss necessary tools you need to stay focused to be able to actively be present in a social situation and create conversation starters in the future. This is Whole-Body Listening to develop active auditory skills.

Session 2: This session will focus on nonverbal social cues. This will cover vocal intonation, facial expressions, body language including physical proximity, and idiomatic or slang expressions, and other cues to be aware of when interacting with others.

Session 3: This session continues to discuss nonverbal social cues to include real photographs, voices, and short mini-video clips of various social situations and expressions.

Session 4: This session discusses expected and unexpected behaviors and how to be a Social Detective. We will be viewing short videos and role playing various scenarios.

Session 5: This session is how to generate language to sustain a conversation to include discussion on small talk, asking questions, and classic social greeting questions.

Session 6: This session will target inferences and conclusions of conversations.

Session 7: This session will discuss how anxiety impairs our ability to socialize as we would like and students are provided strategies to reduce the student’s stress and anxiety.

Session 8: This session will continue with anxiety strategies to include yoga, deep breathing strategies, and muscle relaxant strategies.

Social Skills Group: The Zones of Regulations

The Zones of Regulation curriculum is for children (ages 8-18) that struggle with self-regulation including regulating sensory needs, executive functioning, emotions including anger management, and impulse control so that the child can exhibit socially appropriate behavior with others. 

9 sessions, 75 minutes each

Parents will receive information following every group so that the concepts can continue to be incorporated at home.

Session 1: Introduction to the Zones of Regulation of the Blue Zone, Green Zone, Yellow Zone and Red Zone to increase the students emotions vocabulary and increase their recognition of facial expressions.

Session 2: This session will focus on expected and unexpected behaviors. Many students are unaware of the unwritten social rules or hidden rules which will be discussed.

Session 3: This session focuses on students increasing their awareness of how others perceive them in different zones. In addition, the students learn that their behavior can change and affect others’ thoughts, feelings, and zones. Social Behavior Mapping will be reviewed.

Session 4: This session will discuss how different events change the way they are feeling and that our zones fluctuate throughout the day. Zone Idioms will also be reviewed.

Session 5: This session will teach students to recognize their personal triggers that lead to the Red or Yellow Zone. This will include problem solving to avoid triggers.

Session 6: This session will explore strategies and tools to calm and alert one’s self. Each student will begin to develop their tool box of strategies.

Session 7: This session will explore sensory supports that work for each student which will include stations that the students experience.

Session 8: This session will focus on thinking strategies such as Size of the Problem Worksheet and Superflex vs. Rock Brain thinking strategies. 

Session 9: This session will be learning when to use and apply the tools that each student has collected.