Social Skills Programs

Secret Agent Society

Social skills program for 8-12 year olds with social and emotional challenges

The Secret Agent Society (SAS) Small Group Program is an evidence-based social skills program, proven to help children who have social and emotional challenges. It is suitable for children 8-12 years old, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 1, Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, anxiety disorders, anger management issues, or an undiagnosed range of social and emotional difficulties*.

The program includes espionage-theme activities and fun, eye-catching resources, including a computer game, missile action game, board game and secret message walkie-talkie to engage children and motivate them to develop new skills and coping mechanisms.

The program one of the most successful of its kind in the world, providing children with the tools and skills to make friends, and feel happier, calmer and braver.

SAS helps children build a range of important skills, including how to:

• recognise emotions in themselves and others
• express feelings in appropriate ways
• cope with feelings of anger and anxiety
• communicate and play with others
• cope with teamwork, games and ‘losing’
• cope with mistakes
• detect and understand bullying
• acknowledge personal strengths and goals.

Details

Learning Links’ psychologists run the program over 10 weeks during school terms, with small-group 2 hour sessions that parents join for the last half hour.  There is also a 1 hour parent interview prior to starting, a 2 hour parent training session in the first week and a follow up session with the parent and child 3 months after completion.

SAS is running throughout 2020 at our Bella Vista, Gledswood Hills, Liverpool, Maroubra and Peakhurst centres. 

Contact our Customer Care team for more information about the program or to book. Call 1300 003 900 or send an enquiry using the form on the right.

* SAS requires a certain level of literacy to ensure children can get the best possible outcomes from the program. Please discuss your child’s suitability with our Customer Care team.

LEGO® Based Therapy

Program for 5-12 year olds with social difficulties 

LEGO® Based Therapy is a small group program, proven to help children with social difficulties, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), to improve and practice their social interaction and communication skills.

Using the principles of Play Therapy, the program helps children socialise with their peers and have fun in a supportive and understanding environment, while learning important skills like sharing, waiting, turn-taking, talking with others and making friends.

In the sessions, children agree upon a project that is achievable for everyone in the group, and are assigned roles:

• The Architect holds the building instructions, and is responsible for letting the others know which
• bricks are required (Supplier) and how to put them together (Builder).
• The Supplier holds the LEGO® bricks necessary to assemble the LEGO® model, and is
• responsible for supplying the builder with the correct pieces and at the correct time.
• The Builder is responsible for taking the individual pieces from the supplier, and putting the pieces
• together, according to the instructions given by the architect, to create the model.

Roles are rotated throughout the sessions so children can learn different skills and responsibilities.

Details

LEGO® Based Therapy consists of an initial interview with the child and parent, followed by small-group child sessions with a maximum of 6 children per group.

Learning Links’ psychologists runs the program weekly during school terms, with 12 sessions in total. Each session is 1.5 hours, with parents attending for the first and last 15 minutes of each session.

LEGO® Based Therapy is running throughout 2020 at our Bella Vista, Gledswood Hills, Liverpool and Peakhurst centres.

Contact our Customer Care team for more information about the program or to book. Call 1300 003 900 or send an enquiry using the form on the right.

*For children to achieve the best possible outcomes in LEGO® Based Therapy, they need to have a certain level of communication skills and be able to follow instructions. Please discuss your child’s suitability with our Customer Care team.

Superflex®

Superflex® is a program designed for 7-10 year olds, to help with social thinking, behaviour awareness and self-regulation skills.

The programs focuses on managing social and communication difficulties, and is suitable for children who struggle to monitor and regulate their behaviour, including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 1 or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)*.

Over the course of the program, children become superheroes and are taught to explore social thinking concepts, become aware of their own social behaviour and develop strategies to monitor and modify their own behaviour.

The sessions cover a range of topics, including:
• Becoming a flexible thinker
• Understanding social rules
• Understand a big problem vs a small problem
• Learning to change unhelpful behaviours

Details

The program consists of small-group child sessions, with engaging games and activities. Each child is provided with a Superflex® cape to utilise within the program.

Learning Links runs the program weekly during school terms, with 10 x 1 hour sessions in total.

Superflex® is running in Term 1 and Term 2 2020 at our Peakhurst centre. 

Contact our Customer Care team for more information about the program or to book. Call 1300 003 900 or send an enquiry using the form on the right.

* To ensure children can achieve the best possible outcomes from the Superflex® program they need to have the ability to understand their own thoughts, to enable them to moderate their behaviour. Please discuss your child’s suitability with our Customer Care team.

The Zones of Regulation

The Zones of Regulation is designed for children 6-12 years (split into appropriate age groups) and aims to address challenges with emotional and sensory regulation, and social skills.

Using visuals, play-based activities, role playing and video modelling, the program teaches self-regulation by helping children to categorise their emotions and develop strategies to control their impulses and cope when they feel overwhelmed. It is suitable for all children, including those with ASD, ADHD or mood disorders.

The program includes discussions, role plays, video modelling and variety of activities to teach students to:

• identify their feelings and level of alertness
• understand how their behaviour can impact others
• build strategies to manage their feelings appropriately

Details

Learning Links currently runs this program in a small group over 2 half-days in the school holidays, however, it can also be tailored to meet the needs of families.

Call our Customer Care team for dates and times of upcoming sessions on 1300 003 900 or send an enquiry using the form on the right.

PALS – Playing and Learning to Socialise

PALS is an evidence-based program to help 4-6 year olds develop a range of social behaviours for the early years of school.

Using puppets, stories, games and role play, children learn important skills like:

• greeting others
• talking and listening
• taking turns
• understanding feelings
• problem-solving in social situations.

The program is suitable for young children who may need extra support in social situations or in the lead up to preschool or kindergarten.

PALS aims to help children relate to others, teach constructive problem solving skills for social situations and promote the skills needed for the transition to school.

Details

Learning Links currently runs this program in a small group over 2 half-days in the school holidays, however, it can be tailored to meet the needs of families.

Call our Customer Care team for dates and times of upcoming sessions on 1300 003 900 or send an enquiry using the form on the right.

Stop, Think, Do 

This structured program develops emotional and social intelligence in children and adolescents, 6-11 years old.

The focus is on social skills training, behaviour management and motivational learning. This group is run in two separate age groups, with the content tailored accordingly.

The aim of ‘Stop, think, do’ program is to develop self-control, perceptual and communication skills, and cognitive problem solving skills. It is theorised that children with social-behavioural problems are often stuck at STOP as they tend not to think or do much for themselves. Shy, anxious children are stuck at THINK as they often think too much about what could happen. Impulsive, aggressive children are stuck at DO because they do and do and rarely stop to think.

The program aims to train all children to move through all steps with positive feedback, self-esteem enhancement and support from adults and peers.

Topics covered in the program include:

• Self control
• Feelings
• Cognitive problem solving
• Consequential thinking
• Decision making
• Choice making
• Behavioural skills

Contact our Customer Care team for more information about the program or to book. Call 1300 003 900 or send an enquiry using the form on the right.

How to Access our Services

Locations: Our services are offered at our Learning Centres in Alexandria, Bella Vista, Gledswood Hills, Peakhurst, Oatley, Maroubra and Liverpool and may be provided from schools and early childhood settings.

Days of Operation: Monday to Saturday

Call us on 1300 003 900 or send an enquiry using the form on the right.