Sonnenberg ABA Clinics
Changing lives one behavior at a time!

Our After School Program starts at age 5 and runs Monday-Thursday.

This program is available when determined to be clinically appropriate. 

  

 

OVERVIEW:

  Club Inclusion is a group of participants that have goals to increase their social and functional life skills, including community and vocational skills. These skills are worked on during designated group times. Each month, a new theme is focused on for each group so that each client can work on these skills and master them. During the groups, clients are encouraged to help facilitate and lead groups to create opportunities for leadership skills. Tracks are created based on what goals they are focusing on individually. Once these goals are met, clients are able to change tracks and, in time, graduate from Club Inclusion.

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     "Development Track" consists of Junior Mints and Senior Mints. 

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  Junior Mints: Our Junior Mints are our youngest track. They consist of ages ranging from 5-10 years old. This group works on developing their social, communication, and functional life skills. This track also engages in goals that help support and create coping skills. Because they are developing their skills, our ABA team works to create and increase the number of opportunities for clients to work on their goals with more structure and prompts.

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Examples of Goals Include:

• Sitting with peers without maladaptive and/or socially inappropriate behaviors

  • Start with sitting with their peers for a short period of time (such as 10 minutes) 

  • Slowly increasing the time (such as increasing to 20 minutes, then 30, etc.) 

  • Eventually being able to sit with their peers for the duration of the group

• Following a visual schedule

  •  Clients may be taught to follow a visual schedule 

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  Senior Mints: Our Senior Mints are our older track. They consist of ages ranging from 14-18 years old. This group also works on developing their social, communication, functional life skills, and their coping skills. With this track, there is an additional focus on daily living skills so the clients are able to work on goals that will support independent living. Because this track is developing their skills, our ABA team works to create and increase the number of opportunities for clients to work on their goals with more structure and prompts.  

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Examples of Goals Include:

• Responding to peers independently 

  • Start with answering one question asked by a peer without prompts 

  • Slowly increase expectations to be able to answer multiple questions 

• Completing multiple chores independently 

  • Start with independently being able to complete one chore 

  • Slowly increasing the number of chores the client is able to individually complete 

 

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     "Expansion Track" works on expanding their skills to increase independence in the group setting. Clients are given opportunities to work in more group settings and work towards group contingencies where they can work together towards a common goal. Because the Expansion Track works on expanding their skills, the ABA team encourages clients to follow one group leader, and the rest of the ABA team is able to support and prompt when needed, creating independence and leadership opportunities that often happen naturally. Within this track, clients are working to meet individual goals to move up to the Advancement Track.

 

Examples of Goals Include: 

• Developing the problem solving skills needed to solve social conflicts

  • Start with being able to identify the problem from social scenarios ​

  • Once the problem is identified, learning appropriate responses 

  • Later being able to role-play social scenarios

  • Eventually being able to utilize skills to solve social conflicts in everyday life

• Tolerating and accepting being told "no"

  • Start with tolerating being told "no" in scenarios that are for less-preferred activities​

  • Slowly increase the desirability of the scenario to tolerate being told "no"

  • Eventually tolerating being told "no" across different scenarios

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     "Advancement Track" clients have worked to advance their social, communication, functional life, and coping skills. Clients are often encouraged to work as a group to earn group contingencies. Most clients are encouraged to work on self-monitoring their own goals and progress. This track helps organize events related to holidays, like our Trunk-or-Treat events. This track is oftentimes run by participants, with support from our ABA team faded back. Clients are sometimes working to graduate from Club Inclusion or move to the Teen Group, based on their goals.

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Examples of Goals Include: 

• Self-monitoring goals

  • Start by taking data on their goals with prompts 

  • Slowly increase to independently taking accurate data on their goals

• Having a conversation with peers independently

  • Start by initiating a conversation with a peer

  • Slowly increase expectations for the number of back-and-forth questions and comments

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     "Teen Group" clients have also advanced their skills, and are now learning topics that are specific for teens. This includes more advanced topics like relationships, development, creating goals, internet safety, etc. This group also organizes fundraisers and events so that they are able to earn money towards their track’s group contingency that is based on a collective goal, like a community outing. While most of this track is done in the group setting, clients have individual goals to master before they graduate from Club Inclusion.

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Examples of Goals Include: 

• Mastering the prerequisite skills to finding and choosing friends

  • Start by describing what characteristics they want in a friend

• Increasing socially appropriate replacement behaviors

  • For example, demonstrating flexibility in various locations​

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