With the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, everyone was forced to develop different ways to get through our everyday life.  From becoming comfortable wearing masks everywhere all the time to learning how to log in and attend virtual meetings are the new norms of our society.  For kids who already struggled with the norms of our society along with their difficulties with change, the pandemic had the potential to throw them over the edge.  Fortunately, our agency had a great idea to develop some consistency in the lives of kids and start a virtual social skills group for some of our preteens and teenagers. 

               Our social skills group which we called “Boys in the Club” consists of on average 7 members ranging in age from 11 -17 years old.  Natalie, an ABA therapist, and I, a BCBA facilitate the group but believe me the kids run the group.  They created the name “Boys in the Club” even though Natalie, our only female, is in the club.  We consistently joke about what’s going to happen if and when a female joins our group.  Our goal from the beginning was to have the members run the group and we would use Natural Environmental Teaching to build component social skills when different situations came up.  The benefit of teaching component social skills in the natural environment has been well documented and our kiddos are definitely excelling (Welsh, Najdowski, Strauss, Gallegos, & Fullen, 2019). So far we’ve targeted many social skills in the areas of communicating, expressing feelings, and being part of a group.

               The group runs for an hour 5 days a week and we’ve developed some awesome routines that lend itself to working on skills and having fun.  We begin each session with members sharing how their day has been and one member sharing a cool song or short video that interests them.  This helps members broaden their perspectives and learn how to appreciate the interest of others.  We then play virtual games together that they often lead, and Natalie and I infuse a lesson using one of the many resources our organization has purchased for us.  Research tells us that as children grow older and socially isolate, they are more at risk for a wide variety of problems later on in life (Shapiro, 2004).

One of the staples of our group is our “RIDDLE OF THE DAY!!!!”  This happens around the halfway point of our session and I get all pumped announcing the “RIDDLE OF THE DAAAYYYY!!!!”  They absolutely love it.  They laugh and get excited about solving the riddle which they often do.  Sometimes I am purposely late with the riddle and without fail, one of the guys will stop everything and say “Mr. Ron, what happened to the riddle of the day?”  They not only keep us on point, but they also encourage and support each other. There was one kiddo who started turning his camera off because new members joined the group.  It was so awesome when another member of the group, James, trying to encourage his friend said, “C’mon Sarth, let us see your beautiful face.”  And what happened, Sarth turned on his camera for his friend.

The consistency and bond that they’ve built in the last couple of months have become a staple in my life and the group members’ lives.  Natalie, other group members, and I have logged in the group, on vacation, in the car stuck in traffic, and one time I even ran the group from my son’s dorm parking lot.  Even the parents of the members have expressed the positive impact they have seen as a result of the group.  Our group stands in the gap, building a community of resilience that helps the members thrive and not just survive. 

Ronald Drummond, M.Ed, BCBA, LBA

References

Shapiro, L. E. (2004). 101 Ways to Teach Children Social Skils: A ready-to-use, repoducible activity book. Bureau for At Risk Youth (via Incentive Plus).

Welsh, F., Najdowski, A. C., Strauss, D., Gallegos, L., & Fullen, J. A. (2019). Teaching a perspective-taking component skill to children with autism in the natural environment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 52(2), 439-450.