Highlights of the Social Adventures Program

Attention to social development and anti-bullying campaigns have become priorities in schools throughout the country and world. Although a variety of curricula are used, they often fail to address more subtle social nuances, leaving educators to figure out how to assess, document, and teach these important aspects of social interaction on their own. These skills can be particularly difficult to teach to children with autism spectrum disorders, non-verbal learning disorders and other social-emotional challenges. In an effort to provide a much-needed tool, we would like to introduce The Social Adventures Program; a novel social skills approach developed by speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists with years of experience leading social cognition groups.

Who are we?

We are Meghan Gallahan Graham, MS, CCC-SLP, Jill Perry, MHA, MS, OTR/L and Karen Head, MS, CCC-SLP, and we have been co-leading Social Adventures Groups at Children’s Therapy Associates (Natick, MA) for more than 10 years.  We have worked with 100′s of children with a variety of diagnoses and with many with none.   We are all master’s level clinicians with many hours of continuing education related to social skills development and social-emotional regulation (for more detailed bios, click here).

Over time, we have found that the most effective approach to teaching social skills is through a combination of direct teaching and immediate opportunities for generalization. We have found ourselves returning to a core set of activities to teach fundamental skills and then, as an individual group becomes more competent in these fundamental skills, we continually create new activities to increase challenge and depth of understanding.   This core set of activities, along with an assessment tool, visual supports and more is now available as the Social Adventures Program.

What is the Social Adventures Program?

• An eResource for teachers, therapists, and parents conveniently produced as an iPhone and iPad app to be taken with you everywhere you go! And…because it’s an app, new activities, games and links will be added regularly through updates
• Designed by SLPs and OTs who treat and understand the importance of physical activity, body-space awareness, and self-regulation in effective social interactions among young children.
• This comprehensive program was designed to address 7 key areas of social interaction created for use with young children, ages 4 to 9.
• IMAGINE is an acronym for the 7 key areas addressed: Initiating interactions, Maintaining interactions, Advocating and compromising, Getting regulated, Interpreting non-verbals, Negotiating space, and Experiencing humor.
• The app is a “cook book” of 44+ activities. Just click on the social skill you want to address and a list of easy-to-use games and activities emerge with specific directions, parent tips, and apps that can be used to promote that skill area.
• A Sample 8-week program is included within the app to help you get started with your program.
• Visual supports and social catch phrases are also included.  These stick with children and are easy to use anywhere – on the playground, in the car, waiting at restaurants, on play dates, etc.
• The BAG GAME is an interactive game that is also included in the app. And… is now available as a separate app at the . This game is for 2 or more players and promotes question asking, listening, maintaining interactions and theory of mind.
• IMAGINE! Success assessment is a paper checklist that can be ordered separately to establish a baseline and measure progress along the way in the 7 key areas of social interaction addressed through the app activities.

How to purchase and use the Social Adventures Program

The Social Adventures app can be found and purchased at the and is immediately available for use. After perusing the 7 key areas and activities, check out the 8-week sample program for a place to start if you are just beginning a social group. Or, use the activities to augment any other social curriculum you currently use. Each activity includes directions on how to use catch phrases, visuals, and app references in addition to explicit instructions on how to lead the activity.

The IMAGINE! Success Assessment checklist can be purchased separately on our Products page and is extremely helpful when used in conjunction with the Social Adventures Program but can also be used with other social curricula.

Although the visuals illustrating some of the catch phrases are embedded within the app, some people have found tactile cards useful. You can order a set of laminated cards from our Products page to remind the children which skill is needed in “the moment.” They are also useful for role-play.

Look who is using and talking about the Social Adventures Program?

Teachers…

“Great for All Kids in the Classroom! - I’m an elementary classroom teacher and have found it necessary each year to address students’ communication/ social skills, regardless if they have a specific disability related to pragmatics or not. Many of the skills that Social Adventures addresses are exactly what some of my kiddos need. Skills like active listening/ sharing, perspective taking, reading nonverbal language, and understanding spatial/ body awareness are things that I have tried to address in the past, but may have done it more indirectly. What I like about The Social Adventures app is that it gives me direct, consistent language to help my students carry over these skills. The catch phrases and visuals are fantastic in helping students to grasp these concepts. I have noticed that an ideal time to work on these skills is during transitions or much need movement breaks. Finally, the activities that have to do with collaborating are great if you are trying to build a positive classroom environment. Social Adventures is very user friendly and should be considered for use for all kiddos who are just beginning their own social adventure!” Dec 15, 2011 by tallyho

Parents…

“Love This App! - As a parent of a child with sensory integration issues, this app has been very helpful. My son participates in the facilitated Social Adventures Group on a weekly basis and this app reinforces all that he is learning. It also enables me to share the information with our family and teachers which is very helpful. I particularly like the catch phrases. The app would be great for any parent who is looking to help their child develop the skills to be a good friend and classmate. It is a treasure trove of resources that all families can benefit from. Highly recommended!” Jan 23, 2012 by Mommy Pig

SLPs…

“GREAT app for clinical professionals running social interaction groups. – First of all, I need to say that any reviews criticizing this app for not being “interactive” are completely missing the purpose of the app. Not every app needs to contain extensive interactivity, and this one, rather, fosters interaction among the kids we treat! The app is a great e-guide with detailed information on activities one could use to target social concepts using “catch phrases” (always great for carryover at home) within engaging communication activities for children. The app really uses the iPad well by providing an always-at-your-fingertips guide (organized very well by skill and even in a time-spanned program) and visually supportive cue cards you can pull up and display while running an activity and at any other convenient moment. No more…”where did I put that cue card?” I have worked with the population of children who need social thinking/skills training for 10 years and this app, though I have only scratched the surface of what it has to offer, has already provided me with a number of new activities that have helped my students connect socially within group, while teaching key generalizable skills such as using names, perspective taking, and introducing simple social narratives. Keep up the great work, all4mychild” Mar 2, 2012 by Sean Sweeney