Conversation Crew is a 9-session summer group designed to support children ages 10 and up in developing essential conversation skills. Over 2 weeks, participants will engage in interactive activities that focus on initiating, joining, maintaining, and exiting conversations, while also learning to interpret non-verbal social cues.
Program Details
- Dates: August 5 – August 15, 2025
- Duration: 9 sessions (2.5 hours each)
- Time: 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM
- Ages: 10 years and up
- Location: SAAAC Autism Centre
- Language: English
Goals of the Program
- Build confidence in initiating and maintaining conversations
- Learn how to appropriately join and exit group discussions
- Understand and use non-verbal cues such as body language and gestures
- Improve ability to ask and answer questions with peers
- Practice both preferred and non-preferred conversation topics
Eligibility
Participants should:
- Be 10 years or older
- Be able to remain safely in a group setting without high-risk behaviours (e.g., aggression, self-injury, or elopement)
- Sit and attend to a group lesson for at least 10 minutes
- Communicate using full sentences
- Understand spoken language in sentence form
- Demonstrate emerging back-and-forth conversational skills
What to Expect
Participants will take part in:
- Small group discussions and role-playing activities
- Guided practice in real-life social situations
- Supportive feedback and coaching from trained facilitators
- A structured and inclusive environment that encourages social growth