Social Skills Groups
Therapy OPS's Social Skills Groups are designed for children between the ages of 4 and 18 years who have difficulties with social communications. The group’s comprehensive, curriculum is based on the work of Michelle Garcia Winner’s Think Social. The curriculum reflects the belief that children can become more socially competent if they understand how the social world works and why specific goals are important in different contexts. Learn more about Michelle Garcia-Winner and the Think Social Curriculum at socialthinking.com. We offer the following categories of social skills groups:
General Social Skills: designed for children of all ages and abilities. Children are grouped based on age, maturity level, and skill level. Every group is individualized based on the participants but always targets perspective taking, nonverbal language, conversation skills, and monitoring our behaviors.
ADHD Social Skills: designed especially for children with ADD/ADHD between the ages of 8 and 12 years. The group is tailored for children with a difficulty with attention and focuses on organization, listening, conversational skills, calming strategies, and impulse control.
Girls Only! Social Skills: designed especially for girls, ages 10-15, who want to strengthen their social skills, develop healthier relationships, or become more confident in social situations. The group will focus on skill-building and increasing self-confidence. In a safe, friendly environment, the girls will be engaged in enjoyable activities to help increase skills in conversation, joining a group, reading social cues, choosing friends, and handling peer conflict or bullying.
Organization Group (for High School and College Age)
Making the transition into high school or college brings many new demands, responsibilities and challenges. Therapy OPS offers an organizational class that is designed for high-school and college-aged students who have difficulty managing the everyday academic demands. The classes target tools and strategies for organization of materials, time management, study skills, and note taking. Call or contact us for more information about the groups.
Sensory Adventurers Group
Children typically develop sensory integration abilities in the course of regular childhood activities. The ability to respond to sensation in an adaptive manner and motor plan is a natural process. Yet, if this process is disordered, problems in learning, behavior or development may occur. Therapy OPS's Sensory Adventurers Group targets all 7 senses through fun and exciting lessons. Call or contact us for more information about the groups. Sensory Adventurers Flyer
"My son Tristan just loved the Sensory - based playgroup at Therapy OPS! He was very excited to play with other children while also getting the therapy he needs. I really liked how this group brought the social and emotional development together with the sensory therapy which is great for my son who starts Kindergarten this year. I also really liked the information sheets I received so we could continue the exercises at home."
-Tristan's mother
Emotion Controllers Group
We all experience difficult situations that challenge our ability to control our emotions. Some of us are able to identify when we're losing control and use strategies to alter our responses/behavior. Others need to be taught how to express their emotions and practice skills for getting to a "just right" level. Therapy OPS' Emotional Regulation Group's interactive lessons are based on the work of Leah Kuypers' Zones of Regulation curriculum and targets tools and strategies to adjust behavior according to the changes in the environment. Learn more about Leah Kuypers and the Zones of Regulation Curriculum at zonesofregulation.com. Call or contact us for more information about the groups.
Emotion Controllers Group Flyer
Handwriting Groups
No matter of one’s age, writing is a part of our everyday lives. Building a good foundation early helps to develop and promote efficient writing skills for future use. Learning to write is especially important as it is linked to a child’s reading and spelling achievement, along with everyday school performance. Therapy OPS' Handwriting Group's interactive lessons uses concepts from the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum and incorporates a multi-sensory approach in teaching children how to write right! We offer two groups: 1. “Get Ready to Write” for children who developing pre-writing skills and 2. “Ready Writers” for children who are just beginning to write letters and numbers. Learn more about the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum at www.hwtears.com. Call or contact us for more information about the groups.
FOOD explorers
Does your child become upset with looking, smelling or touching new foods? Do meal times become a battle with you hoping your child will try something other than their preferred foods? This group allows children explore foods using a play-based approach. The child becomes a "Food Explorer" through using all five senses and learns to have fun with food. This program is based on the Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding developed by Kay Toomey, PhD. Therapy OPS's occupational therapists conduct feeding evaluations to determine whether individual or group treatment is required. Sessions will consist of parent education to promote carryover of the "Food Explorer" approach to the home setting. Our goal is to make meal times enjoyable for the child and family.