Programs & Services

Based on the Circles® Curriculum, parents will join a virtual group session to learn about one strategy we can use to teach about different degrees of talk, touch, and trust associated with various people in their child’s life. This program fosters communication about social and relationship boundaries and helps parents develop a visual support to teach these concepts to their child.
In the weeks following the virtual group session, we will meet individually with each family (virtual or in person) up to 3 more times to support the development of their own individualized ‘Circles’ that can be used for reference within the home. We will discuss any successes or barriers to using this visual to explain these concepts to your child, and whether any ‘tweaking’ has to be made to make the visual more effective for you and your child.
It is recommended that your child not attend the virtual workshop; however, it may be appropriate for them to attend follow-up consultations with their parent and the facilitator.

SibShops are events which provide 8-13 year old brothers and sisters of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) an opportunity to meet other siblings in a relaxed, recreational setting.
SibShops intersperse information and discussion activities with high-energy games, new friends, and craft activities to get children talking, laughing, and learning. An introduction to ASD will be included to provide participants with a better understanding of the disorder and how it may impact their sibling.

Facing Your Fears (FYF) is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) program for children and youth with ASD who experience significant symptoms of anxiety. This group focuses on helping children and their caregivers in identifying worries, developing coping strategies, and practicing managing anxiety. This group consists of 12 weekly in person sessions. Caregiver AND child participation in each session is required.

The Resilience Builder Program (Alvord, Zucker, & Grados, 2011) is designed to support children, aged 9 to 12 years, to bounce back from stress by developing resilience and protective factors, such as self- awareness, self-regulation, flexible thinking, and social competence. This virtual caregiver group intends to provide program material and psychoeducation regarding the above topics for caregivers to didactically support the needs of their child(ren) at home. All materials will be provided.

This caregiver group involves participation in a Parent Management Training (Kazdin, 2008) program that aims to enhance parenting skills to improve challenging behaviours in children, such as aggression, hyperactivity, and non-compliance. The training will take place virtually in a group session. Handouts will be emailed to participants prior to each scheduled session.

We are pleased to offer drop-in clinics to access a 50-minute consultation session with Dr. Price. This service would be appropriate for caregivers of children of any age or adolescents who wish to have an individual consultation themselves. Clients will be able to schedule a time during one of the clinic days, where they are able to discuss any current mental health concerns, learning basic strategies that can be implemented at home and in the community, and to receive recommendations to plan for next steps.

Register for 1 session or all 11, as each session will be different interactive fun activities. Sibshops is an opportunity for the siblings of children with ASD to meet other siblings in a relaxed, recreational setting. In a fun and relaxing atmosphere, facilitators will provide opportunities to discuss common joys and concerns, how to handle commonly experienced situations, and a venue to learn more about the implication of their siblings’ special needs.

PEERS is a 14-week evidence-based social skills program delivered virtually for students aged 12 – 17. There is a weekly mandatory parent session.

Topics include:
How to use appropriate conversational skills
How to find common interests by trading information
How to appropriately use humour
How to handle rejection, teasing and bullying
How to handle rumours and gossip
How to be a good host during get-togethers
How to make phone calls to friends
How to be a good sport
How to handle arguments and disagreements
How to change a bad reputation (by investigating one new extracurricular activity)

Children’s Friendship Training is an evidence based interactive program delivered in module sessions in which children and families develop and practice social skills necessary to initiate and maintain meaningful peer relationships.  Caregiver’s attend sessions at the same time as their children/youth.

Through ten modules, children will learn to make phone calls, host play-dates, maintain play, share in the interests of others’, and respond appropriately to bullying/teasing. During these sessions caregivers will learn how to support their children in the exciting new world of social opportunities. 

Facilitators will complete a pre-screening tool with families expressing an interest in participating.

GJCC Focused Consultative ABA services (using the techniques and strategies of Applied Behaviour Analysis – ABA) can help individuals learn new skills, cope with, and tolerate different situations, and decrease some challenging behaviours. Individualized plans will include 1 goal, which is then broken into smaller steps through teaching strategies. Some examples are:
- Improving social skills, taking turns
- Following instructions, transitioning between activities, following a schedule
- Learning to care for personal needs, like: getting dressed, teeth brushing, basic daily self care

You will guide the process. Together, we will talk about your needs, goals, and what you and your child/youth need support with. Do not worry; we will help give clinical recommendations if you do not know where to start.

When you have selected the goal, we will observe and assess your child/youth to see his/her current strengths and needs. Our clinical team will create an individualized 10-week plan for your child/youth based on your goals. Your child/youth will be working 1-1 with a Behavioural Therapist to deliver the plan with the Clinical Supervision of the BCBA.  There are also opportunities for caregiver mediated coaching throughout the 8 weeks of sessions. All services can be delivered virtually or in-person, as determined in collaboration with your child/youth’s Behaviour Clinician (BCBA).  These goals can happen in a variety of environments based on needs and consents.

The Next Step (8-12 year olds) will review emotions and zones and focus on the identification of moving through the zones. Strategies to increase ability to self-calm, increase alertness, and increase awareness of potential triggers.

Beginner Zones will focus on identifying emotions and the Zones of Regulation®. Flexible thinking, inner coaching, and calming strategies will be explored virtually.

Conversation Cues is an 11-week evidence-based social skills program delivered virtually for students aged 9 – 17 years of age.

Topics include:
When to start a conversation
How to start a conversation
Take turns appropriately
Maintain conversation with peers
Talk on topic
Identifies disbelief & responds appropriately
Identifies confused, bored, not interested vs. interested & responds appropriately
Learn how to identify your cues
How to end a conversation

Educational sessions for caregivers wanting to learn more about ASD and social skills. Over the course of these four 1 hour sessions, caregivers will learn about why social language is important, what the key components of social language are, and how to help your child learn about neurotypical communication. Each session will discuss a different topic and will build on the previous one. If you are unable to attend all 4 sessions, you are still welcome to attend.

This one-hour presentation offers strategies to support children and youth who experience ASD and anxiety.  

Parents of children with ASD will learn how to use visuals to support the learning and understanding of new concepts. Parents will learn how visuals can fit into existing daily interactions and routines and how they can be phased out over time. Parents will also learn how to use visuals to break big skills down into small steps, to make it easier to learn new concepts/skills.

Children with ASD commonly face challenges with eating a healthy range of foods for many reasons. Come and learn more about why your child might be struggling with food and strategies to support healthy eating habits and a wider food variety. For further guidance and support, an individualized follow-up session may also be scheduled during the week following the presentation.

During this fun group format program, children will learn to self – manage emotional and behavioural responses using Applied Behaviour Analysis and The Zones of Regulation Curriculum in order to be able to continue to engage in learning activities, maintain social relationships and maintain their well – being. 

Objective: Students in this group will learn to identify: 
- Emotions in themselves  
- Emotional/behavioural responses to the environment 
- Coping strategies to self-regulate their emotional/behavioural responses 
- Problem solving related to emotional/behavioural responses 
- The teaching will be done using evidence-based best practices for individuals with ASD.  

Caregivers will work together with the Occupational Therapist, Speech-Language Pathologist and BCBA, to choose a couple goals. They will then have six hours of 1:1 coaching and/or consultations with any of the professionals, based on what the needs and goals are.

Following a brief screening by the team, you will discuss strategies related to skill acquisition or a behaviour of concern that the family may find challenging. Caregivers will leave the initial consult with specific, measurable goals. The professionals will develop strategies and will then help coach the family or work with the child directly for the remaining sessions.

A Speech-Language Pathologist will conduct a parent interview and screen your child to determine speech, language and/or social communication skills. Based on parent focus and child’s skill level, SLP will work with child, demonstrate strategies and coach the caregiver in order to facilitate learning and help transition skills to home.

Consult and collaboratively work with an Occupational Therapist to identify concerns related to fine motor skills, visual motor skills (paper and pencil, cutting), self-regulation, self-care skills as well as areas of sensory processing affecting the child’s functional skills in their everyday life.

This caregiver workshop is designed to give caregivers a better understanding of what fine motor skills are expected for their child, why fine motor skills are important, and simple tips for supporting fine motor skills at home. It includes a quick consultation phone call of up to 30 minutes to discuss how the strategies can be implemented and/or individualized.

Mealtimes can be full of stress and overwhelm for families with a picky eater, Rachel and Julie provide a team perspective (OT and SLP) to provide caregivers with an understanding of why children may be “picky eaters” and how parents can support their child to become more open to trying and exploring new foods. Make mealtimes fun again by learning tips for gradually increasing your child’s interest in new or less-preferred foods.

Sensory Survival Course is designed to equip caregivers to better understand their child’s sensory differences and to learn strategies for how they can best support their child’s sensory differences.