Summer Training Program for Children

The Illinois Centers for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (ICFASD) is pleased to announce that 'Good Buddies' an empirically validated, 12 week curriculum based summer training program will be offered at the Naperville location. This will be for children (Age 6 -12) with an FASD or suspected of having an FASD. This children's program called is developed by Dr. O'Connor's team at UCLA and is an adaptation of their project Bruin Buddies that was funded by CDC. A randomized study was conducted and the results indicate that the treatment group showed an increased understanding regarding social behaviors, improved overall social skills, and a reduction in problem behaviors.

As we all know that children that are prenatally exposed to alcohol often display poor social skills, failure to consider the consequences of their actions, difficulty understanding social cues, indiscriminate social behavior and difficulty communicating in social contexts. Furthermore, the development of adequate and timely social skills is important because these children with poor social skills acquire negative reputations among their peers and experience social rejections and a risk of engaging in delinquent acts.

This intervention is a 12 week, parent-assisted children's social skills training program for children ages 6 - 12 who are experiencing difficulties making and keeping friends. The goal is to help your children become more accepted by peers and to make one or two new close friends. Parents attend separate, concurrent sessions to learn how to help their children make and keep friends.

Targeted Skills Include:
- How to talk to other children in order to learn about common mistakes
- How to find peers who like to do the same activities
- How to join a group of children at play at school or in the neighborhood
- How to be a good sport or a good winner in games with peers
- How to behave when another child comes to play
- How to handle and resist teasing and bullying
- How to be respectful to adults

This group will meet on Tuesdays from 4 - 6 pm. The group will start on June 5, 2012 and end on August 14, 2012. Week 11th and 12th (graduation) will be combined on August 14, 2012. If July 3, 2012 is a problem for most parents an alternate date will be discussed.

The cost for the 12 week program is $500 with $150 due at registration and the rest can be paid in three installments.

Location: 1260 Iroquois Ave. Suite 300. Naperville, IL 60563.

Please feel free to contact Ajeet Charate regarding any questions or concerns you may have about this summer program, the UCLA curriculum or for other services that we offer. Please be in contact with the center if you are interested and if you would like to register now or wait until Fall 2012.