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Consider this your guide to group work success! Written to accompany Exploring Feelings—winner of the 2008 Teacher’s Choice Award—this manual is intended to pass on experience to those working with high-anxiety and ASD individuals in a group setting. Seasoned group leaders have recorded and shared what worked best, what can be tweaked to suit your group, and how to best utilize the tasks and activities in Exploring Feelings through tried-and-true methods, including:
Selecting group leaders and members Choosing where to hold group meetings and the benefits of different venues Program Flexibility and how to tailor activities to your group How to best involve parents and guardians
… and so much more!
Anxiety is so prevalent in young people with ASD, and is often at the core of behavioral issues perceived as anger or non-compliance. By addressing the main symptom, and doing so in a safe and informative group environment, both young people and their families and friends are sure to see vast improvement in anxiety levels. This manual is the key to enjoyable, successful, and rewarding group sessions, and to helping young people and their parents/ guardians build their “toolbox” of techniques for handling anxiety. The main message is, “do it!”
I. Background and Introduction to Exploring Feelings
II. Setting Up a Group
III. Possible Adaptations to the core Program
IV. Different Settings For Groups
Apendix 1 Final CBT Checklist
Apendix 2 Social Story Explaining the Exploring Feelings Group
Apendix 3 Checklist of items needed to run the Exploring Feelings group
Apendix 4 Session 1 Handout - Being Happy
Apendix 5 Session 2 Handout - What does our body look like when we feel anxious
Apendix 6 Session 3 Handout - Social tools to fix the feeling of anxiety
Apendix 7 Session 4 Handout - Anxious situations
Apendix 8 Session 5 Handout - Social Stories
Apendix 9 Session 6 Handout - Relaxation Scripts; Anxiety and Anger Management