BSO Programs

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The peer support group is for individuals between 8 - 12 years of age who may be struggling at school socially such as with making friends, feeling different than others, or maybe feeling pushed aside form peer groups at school. Perhaps they are going through or entering the prepuberty stage and experiencing hormonal changes, anxiety and/or depression. This group will be facilitated by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) to provide opportunities for each individual to talk freely of how they are feeling about a variety of topics – good or bad, without any judgment. Peers can provide input on similar experiences and/or comment on what’s been shared. The BCBA will promote socially acceptable interactions while also discussing appropriate coping strategies that could be exercised.

We are currently accepting private pay for this peer support group while insurance authorization is being established. 

The group will have weekly sessions on Mondays from 4:00 – 6:00 and the cost is $80 per session. We ask that sessions are paid for in advance.

  The BSO Social Skills Program individualizes programming for appropriate individuals as young as 7 years of age. Individuals are grouped with same aged peers between the ages of 7 - 22. This program targets those students who may succeed academically in a public school setting; however, require more support in order to develop or strengthen their social skills. Additionally, the BSO Social Skills Program is available to enhance lives of those over 22 by increasing their social skills repertoire.

BSO's Social Skills Programs includes teaching the skills necessary to navigate through the ever increasing sophisticated social world.   Having a strong set of social skills provides for the ability to communicate, relate to, and connect with other people. These skills are essential for establishing friendships and relationships which increase the quality of every individual's life.  Some examples of what we will target during his program may include: reading social cues, expressing feelings, listening to others, thinking before acting & speaking, understanding personal space, sharing, turn taking, showing empathy, etc. 

Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks successfully. Interestingly, children are not born with these skills, however they are born with the potential to develop them. 

When children have opportunities to develop executive function and self-regulation skills, those individuals and society as a whole, experience lifelong benefits. These skills are crucial for learning and development and enable positive behavior which cultivates us to make healthy choices for ourselves and our families.

Main targets during the Executive Functioning Program includes time management, self-monitoring, sustained attention, planning & prioritizing, working memory, organization, emotional control, and task initiation.

During the initial assessment or while targeting each individual's individualized programs during the BSO After School Program, challenging behaviors may surface. Strategies of Applied Behavior Analysis will be used to decrease these challenging behaviors.