Social Skills Group (ADHD) - how long did you stay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends how badly he needs it, and if you see a Transference of skills from that group to his every day life.

I put my 8 year old DS in Alvord and Baker's resilience social skills group program one summer... and that was it. While the program was good, the price and distance made it unappealing during the year, and his public school ran a social skills group anyway (not as good, but better than nothing). I didn't see a strong transference social skills either. However now at 10, his social skills have improved: age, maturity, and maybe the social skills group? Who knows.

It's hard to gauge the efficacy of a method when its benefits can sometimes be visible only years later.

Social skills improve only with experience. If your child is being ostracized and shunned at school (like mine was), the social skills group is a place to learn and practice those skills under guidance. It was at first a refuge and then a place where he found friends. He added scouts and youth group at our church and was able to have multiple areas to practice. For him, having the once a week time devoted to it helped him mature. If your child can find that real socialization elsewhere consistently and frequently, then a social skills group is less effective. He has matured, but he is still behind the curve. He will be heading for college in the fall and my one fear is social for him. He will be studying engineering, so he will be with his people and I hope he finds his tribe. I have been told by many experienced parents and professionals that he will be among similar kids and keeping him in college longer may help too (cooping and graduate school)