Parents,
Tonight was a very smooth night for the teens. A little bit sad in that we talked about there being two sessions left, but we planned out the next two sessions out as a group and I think they’re going to have a nice time. Next meeting, we’re going to be having miniature golf, arcade and then walk for about fifteen minutes and go to the Galleria for dinner so you’ll be dropping them off at one place and you’ll be picking them up at another place. Stay tuned because we’ll send you a flyer on that next week. Then for our final meeting they decided and it was EF who suggested it that we go to the park. She said that hadn’t happened and she really wanted to do that. The group agreed with her and so we’ll going to go to the park and then go to California Pizza Kitchen and we will meet back at Gelson’s as per usual to say goodbye to everyone. So there we have it, what’s going to happen later this month and in early June. Don’t forget that there will be a parent dinner on June 1, Tuesday. Please call in and make your reservations for this.
So tonight, it was really about socializing and tolerance. We did a barbecue and so they shopped for their barbecue. Rather than doing steaks, hotdogs and other things, we just got hot dogs for everyone and that worked more smoothly. They socialized, they appeared to enjoy socializing, and we had three kinds of raffles. There was the blue ticket raffle, there was the hero ticket raffle where eight kids had a chance to win, and there was the LUNCH points raffle and two prizes were handed out for that. There was a parent’s meeting as well and what was impressive was how quietly and respectively the kids came in when they either needed water or to use the restroom.
The parent meeting in itself was nice in that there weren’t a lot of questions about generalization, but there were questions more about “What do I do with my child when they’re no longer coming to this group?” and this is very relevant and sometimes hard to answer, but parents talked about community services through organizations like J Nolan and about some of the things that their kids are doing where they’re getting out into the community more. One father (KV’s) talked about how his son is calling other kids and that was impressive. All in all, they were well-behaved, they helped set up chairs, they helped clean up, and it was a well rounded evening. One final thing we talked about was what to do with kids who are more isolated and this is hard because it seems to be a blend of how much they feel attachment to others and how much anxiety they experience and how competent they feel in having conversations. This is something that requires continued focus on the part of parents and my take is to have your kids immerse in different social situations so it gradually can become more comfortable. But that’s about it for tonight parents. I will look forward to seeing your kids in two weeks as we continue the winding down process. Thanks.
