Introduction
Below you will find the audio podcast recording and the transcribed text for our first session. I’ll be curious to learn if you feel you need the text, since that’s the more time-consuming part. However, for now, we’ll do both and eventually see if just the audio recording is sufficient. I have left comments on, however please only comment if you are a LUNCH Groups® participating family, otherwise it will be deleted.
Audio Recording
Transcribed Text
Hi parents,
Tonight was our first group for group number two and it really went pretty smoothly. Group started off with us talking to your kids just a little bit and then taking them into the office. Everyone was pretty much right on time and that was wonderful. In the office, what we do is just talk a little bit about some of the expectations and essentially some very general rules primarily initially regarding pedestrian safety, how to be on the sidewalk, we have a rule that says six feet away from the curb, that kind of thing.
Afterward, we went over to Gelson's where they had strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and chips. It was a nice snack for them and a lot of the kids of the group have been here before, but they don't know each other because they've been in different groups or at different times. Even though we have quite a few individuals who are familiar with the program, the act of getting to know kids is still a skill that all of them are having to practice.
We were at Gelson's for maybe 20-30 minutes between shopping and hanging out and then it was time to go back to the office. We had everyone following pedestrian safety except one child who practiced a little bit. We call it “Positive Practice” when we have a child repeat a behavior. Back in the office, they spent a little bit of time just talking with each other, and then we brought them into the larger meeting room and talked to them about both a little bit about rules and also creating nicknames for themselves, which they would need for the raffle tickets. We use blue and hero tickets and explain the difference to the kids. In essence blue tickets are just for typical behaviors such as sitting still, doing things that are expected, whereas hero tickets are given when your child does something that either shows extra consideration for others or that their problem solving or doing something that they might find somewhat difficult. For example, we had one student in group who appeared to kind of excessively tired and he laid his head down on the table for a moment but then he picked it up and he was paying attention. A minute later he laid his head down again, then he propped it up with his arm. I pointed that out, you'll probably see it on the video when you come to the parent meeting and showed that he was paying attention. You're also going to see possibly an example of one of the kids starting to pick their nose and immediately they're asked to go wash their hands, which is called contingent effort. It's said to them in a respectful way, sometimes they act surprised, but we try not to make a big deal out of it. It helps them with their self-monitoring, and that leads to self-regulation.
After we finished the part where they did their nicknames, Dr. Mazor led the group where the kids
chose different prizes that they might want to win in a raffle. They're not guaranteed that prize and we explain that to them but it gives them an idea of what they can look forward to seeing in about four groups. The last thing that we did was we showed your kids lunch points and lunch points is a home generalization program where parents pick any one of about 80 behaviors and give their child a certificate that highlights that behavior. Now, you only do one certificate per group. And it might sound like well, should be lots of certificates, right? Well, the question is, what is the purpose of it? I will go over this in greater detail in a parent meeting but lunch points is not meant that you were rewarding your child with a certificate by giving it to them, but rather the act of giving them the certificate gives them something to look forward to in group and then they have an opportunity to read it to the other kids and also gain either blue ticket prizes, or blue tickets or hero tickets. We did have one child asked if they are required to bring a lunch point in and we said no that we never force someone to do something but they can also ask someone else to read it for them if they're feeling embarrassed about that.
The two hours quickly flew by and there were no significant concerns. They were really a great group. And I think for a first time it went well. Remember, if your child does complain about anything, you know that happens to about 10-15% of kids in group. Please consider following the instructions from the parent orientation: (1) Thank your child for letting you know, (2) ask them to bring it up to myself or Dr. Mazor, (3) send us an email summarizing what occurred, (4) Move on to something else. That's our advice, anyway.
Thank you, and we'll look forward to seeing you next time.
Dr. G.