PEERS Social Skills for Teens Online Program

ADHD Support Australia is excited to be offering two PEERS® Social Skills for Teens groups via Telehealth.

PEERS® stands for Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills.

The PEERS® program is an internationally acclaimed, evidence-based social skills group program for adolescents and young adults with social challenges.

Originally developed by Dr Elizabeth Laugeson at the University of California (UCLA) PEERS®, the programme has a strong evidence-base for use with adolescents and young adults with Aspergers/ASD, but is also highly appropriate for those with ADHD, anxiety, depression, learning difficulties, those who may be twice exceptional or gifted and talented or indeed anyone experiencing social challenges.

The program assists motivated teens and young adults with social challenges who are interested in learning ways to help them make and keep friends.

Explicitly teaching how to navigate common social challenges allows the formation of more positive relationships.

Teens learn how to …

* Develop & maintain friendships
* Improve conversational skills
* Choose appropriate friends & find common interests
* Appropriately use electronic forms of communication
* Appropriately use humour & assess humour feedback
* Start, enter & exit conversations between peers
* Organise successful get-togethers with friends
* Be a good sport when playing games and/or sports with friends
* Handle arguments & disagreements with friends
* Handle rejection, teasing, bullying, rumours/gossip & cyber bullying
* Change a bad reputation

PEERS® social skills for teens program details

PEERS® Social Skills for Teens is a 14-week online program for teens aged 13-17 who experience social challenges and are interested in learning new ways of making and keeping friends.

In weekly 90-minute online small group sessions, teens are taught important social skills and given the opportunity to practise these skills during socialisation activities in the session.

Parents or caregivers attend online 60-minute weekly small group sessions separately to their teens and are taught how to become their teen’s social coach – supporting them in practicing their new skills at home, coaching them during their weekly socialisation homework assignments and providing feedback.

Sessions are relaxed & fun whilst using evidence-based skill-teaching methods …

* Small group (6 – 12 participants)
* Safe environment where everyone finds success
* Didactic instruction (concrete easy to follow rules & steps)
* Socratic questioning method (a question/answer dialogue to draw out ideas)
* Teaches ecologically valid skills (skills that socially successful people use)
* Correct/Incorrect role play examples
* Role-playing and modelling practice of correct skills (behaviourial rehearsal)
* Perspective-taking questions targeting social cognition
* Social coaching from both course facilitators & parent(s)/carer(s)
* Homework exercises (with parent/carer assistance)
* Each session builds upon the previous week

Meet your social coach

Vivian Dunstan

* Certified PEERS Adolescent & Young Adult Social Skills course provider
* Masters of Teaching (Primary)
* Facilitator of Parenting Children with ADHD 6-week course since 2015
* ADDCA ADHD Coach
* Certified Tech Addiction & Digital Health Educator (NIDHW)
* Former RAISE mentor
* Certified NeuroACT program provider
* Founder & Organiser of ADHD Support Australia
* Advocating for & supporting the ADHD community since 2013
* Organiser of 130+ expert ADHD talks
* Author of ADHD Support Australia’s website
* Experienced Mum who’s navigated 26 years with an ADHD child, teen and now young adult

Is PEERS right for my teen?

Teens must …

* be between 13-17 (or 12 turning 13 and at high school)
* have social challenges
* be interested in attending the program
* agree to participate in the program voluntarily
* consistently attend the program; and
* a parent/carer must be willing to participate as the teen’s social coach

I want to help my teen improve socially – what now?

To help your teen improve their confidence socially and go on to create and maintain more meaningful connections find out more by viewing the recording of the recent webinar here so you are familiar with what’s involved in the program.

In this webinar, you will discover the following:

• The common social challenges of people with ADHD
• What the PEERS Program is
• How we teach social skills in PEERS
• PEERS Example: Joining a Group Conversation
• How to start a conversation correctly
• PEERS Evidence-Base
• PEERS Telehealth vs In-Person: Evidence-Base
• How to join the PEERS program
• Webinar Q&A

Then, please ensure your young adult is the appropriate age, you’ve checked you’re available on the days/times the program will run

Parent Session: Mondays from 3 February 2025 @ 7-8.00pm

Teen Session: Tuesdays from 4 February 2025 @ 4.30-6pm

For 14 weeks finishing week beginning 19 May 2025

There will be a break on the week of 14 April and 21 April  2025

Your investment for this intake is $2,970 incl GST ($2,700 + $270 GST)

* 1 intake interview
* 14 x 60 min parent/social coach sessions
* 14 x 90 min teen sessions
* Weekly handouts/homework assignments
* Support throughout the 14-week program

Great value at $212.14 per week for the 2 sessions!

If you’d like to move forward:

Book in a time for me to meet you and your teen via Zoom to ensure they’re also on board with starting the program and to give them a chance to meet me and ask any questions they may have.

You can speak to me privately prior to bringing your teen into the conversation if you prefer.

Once you’ve selected the time slot that suits you, ensure you accept the invitation that will be emailed to you and this will then automatically go into both our online calendars.

If the program isn’t right for your teen I’ll let you know, and if you decide after our chat that it isn’t for you, that’s fine – it’s a no obligation meeting.

If we decide to move forward after the Zoom, there will be some intake forms for you and your teen to complete and you will be invoiced.

Once this is finalised your place will be secure!

If you are intending on using NDIS funding for the program, I suggest you start your enquiries and process now, so you can have that in place prior to our program start date as this can often take some time.

Once I have completed the process with all those families interested, I will form a suitable group or groups and all details will be sent through.

If you’re not able to attend on the above dates/times but are interested in joining this or a future course, or if you have any further questions, not covered above please email me @ vivian@adhdsupportaustralia.com.au.