PORTLAND, Ore. - PRDelivery -- IRLSocialSkills.com is proud to announce that enrollment is open for the IRL Social Skills March cohort of Teens and Adults for interactive online social skills classes. IRL Social Skills offers life-changing social skills courses for socially struggling teens and adults and their families. IRL Social Skills was founded by Mara McLoughlin, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who was recently appointed to be a member of the Oregon Commission of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

McLoughlin is launching new classes based on the Program for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®). PEERS® was established in 2004 at UCLA by Dr. Elizabeth Augeson, a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. The PEERS® curriculum is taught in over 125 countries and translated into 12 languages.

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PEERS® is recognized in the University of North Carolina 2020 National Clearinghouse for Autistic Evidence and Practices report as the ONLY evidence-based manualized program under Social Skills Training (SST).

No other social skills program has the research to back its efficacy at this level.

Many parents of autistic children, teens, and young adults struggle with other people's attitudes and judgements. However, these parents also know that their child has many excellent characteristics to offer the world. Autistic teens and adults can struggle to develop meaningful relationships with others. Frustration is heightened when parents know their child desperately desires to have friends, and they do not know how to help their own child — a direct consequence of inefficient and ineffective programs, as well as limited resources made available for social skills instruction.

For neurotypical people, fundamental social skills (e.g., turn-taking, starting conversation, maintaining relationships, etc.) are easily mastered, simply by being exposed to social settings and with a little guidance from parents/teachers. Some autistic people find connecting socially is substantially more challenging, and may benefit from explicit, direct instruction — and  it's never too late to learn more communication skills!

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IRL Social Skills provides didactic instruction with concrete, research-derived steps to help socially struggling adolescents and young adults and their social parent/caregiver coaches. Clients must attend each session with a social coach (i.e. parent, family member, adult sibling, life coach, job coach, peer mentor, etc.). Social coaches are trained how to help clients learn and practice the skills offered by giving feedback during weekly homework assignments.

Simply put, the #actuallyautistic, LGBTQ+, interdisciplinary team at IRL Social Skills empowers families to support social skills development for teens and adults. The social skills covered includes but is not limited to:

• Initiating, cultivating, and maintaining relationships
• Starting and continuing conversations
• Appropriate use of humor
• Dating etiquette
• Handling disagreements and rejection
• Handling direct and indirect bullying, including cyberbullying

And more

Social Skills Coaching for Autistic Teens and Adults

Teen classes meet every Wednesday, March 30 - July 13, 2022

Adult classes meet every Thursday, March 31 - July 14, 2022