Older Adolescent and Young Adult Social Skills Group
The Older Adolescent and Young Adult Group at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD) is a recurring 8-week group-based social skills training program. The group runs once during the Fall (usually October & November), once during the Spring (usually March & April), and once during the summer (usually June & July). The class focuses on social cognition (understanding the intentions of others) and social skills (improving social behaviors) and relies on structured didactics, videos, and role-plays.
The class is open to those with a formal diagnosis that impacts their social abilities (such as an autism spectrum disorder or ADHD) as well as to those simply wishing to improve their social skills. The group is geared towards older teenagers and young adults, and most participants are in high school. Because much of the class relies on back-and-forth between class members, participants must have sufficient verbal skills to be able to participate in a group setting.
The group is co-led by Dr. Dichter and CIDD trainees, and there is are optional research components involving eye tracking and phone-based questions that are collected before and after treatment. All potential patients or caregivers, please contact Twyla Peoples at (919) 843-1529 or twyla.peoples@cidd.unc.edu for more information about scheduling and registration and contact Teresa McCrimmon at teresa.mccrimmon@cidd.unc.edu or (919) 966-4135 for questions about insurance coverage for this group.