AID-L’s Social Saturdays
By: Claire Luttrell, MS, CCC-SLP
Have you heard of AID-L’s Social Saturdays? They are one of our favorite things that we have been offering!!
We first started these Saturday morning get-togethers as “Shopping Saturdays” to allow parents and caregivers to do some holiday shopping without their kids in tow. However, once the holidays passed, the therapists and volunteers wanted to continue offering these days to give kids some free play time in a familiar environment as well as parents and caregivers a chance to run errands or have a coffee in peace.
Social Saturdays: Free Play
We offer our free-play Social Saturday at our clinic for all of our clients and their siblings. All ages are welcome! The children enjoy being able to ride bikes, play hide-and-go-seek, blow bubbles, and go down the slide without any therapist having them do “work”. The therapists enjoy having this chance to bond with the kids and just have fun! No artic words to work on, no stories that the kids have to listen to, no puzzles being completed… unless of course this is what the kids want to do! I personally have such a wonderful memory of pushing a young girl in a swing for over an hour and singing all the songs of Frozen to her, as this is what she requested using her communication device. She had the biggest smile on her face because she got some 1-on-1 attention doing exactly what she wanted to do!
Social Club: for our Pre-Teens and Teenagers
A newer addition to our Social Saturdays is our pre-teen and teenagers’ “Social Club”. We offered our first Social Club in November of 2021 and it was a blast!! The big kids met in the other ATS building, so they got to enjoy some time without the younger kids! The purpose of these Social Clubs is to promote friendships within our very own AID-L and ATS community.
At the November Social Club, therapists targeted skills that might be required during the holidays, such as at Thanksgiving and over Christmas. For most people, having a meal that you might not eat everyday, talking with family members that you haven’t seen for a while, and playing new or different games is an easy thing to adapt to. However, with most of our clients, these tasks can be extremely difficult. During the November Social Club, the kids and therapists talked about traveling to celebrate Thanksgiving, who they would be visiting / who would be coming visit them, the foods offered (both preferred and unpreferred), sitting at a table with the rest of the family, and conversation starters to use with their family members. An occupational therapist even led the group in a movement break in which they could then lead at their own homes, since many of our kids need to move their bodies every so often. The kids also made Apple Pie Bites and went home with the recipe card to share with their family.
What themes for Social Saturdays would you like to see in the future? I was hoping for future Social Club meetings to include game days, lego building, cookie decorating, tea parties, DIY workshops, and even trips to the bowling alley or movie theater. There are so many language and life skills that our children can learn from these experiences. Plus, they get to have fun with their friends!!
