We receive requests from parents about this all the time. As much as we'd like to accommodate such requests, it isn't feasible. However, we do photo extensively, video occasionally, and portions of these are shown to parents during meetings. Finally, we have developed a progress reporting tool that is used by my paraprofessional staff to report on student progress.

We find that the vast majority of kids who attend our program are able to find something to consume. If your child has truly special needs regarding food and absolutely cannot eat in any sort of restaurant, then we would consider it with a doctor's note. However, we constantly have children who have restrictive food habits. One of the areas we work on is flexibility and being able to try new things. Of course, this includes foods. You may have tried, unsuccessfully, and with frustration to address this problem at home. Based upon our past experience, the majority of children either begin to try new foods or have a less intense negative emotional reaction when we offer them foods. This is something we can discuss further during the assessment process for your child.

Just as we track food allergies, we can accommodate most Kosher families. The key question is this: Can your child eat dairy in a non-Kosher restaurant. If yes, we can have them attend, if not, our program is not right for your child. It doesn't work out so well (we've tried) to have kids' parents deliver special meals or have the child bring food from home. Part of our program involves having the kids accept that they can have soda some meals (with portion control) and only water other meals. Often we link it to our activities. For example, if we have taken the children to the park, usually that will be a "water day," because it is healthiest to drink water after exercising (the kids are always offered water bottles or a nearby drinking fountain when we are out at a park).

Children who maintain a vegan lifestyle are treated similarly. We determined whether or not they can have foods that have fish or eggs and proceed from there.

Whenever we offer desserts to children, which is quite rare, we always promise the child who cannot have the group dessert that he or she will be able to pick out something that meets his or her dietary requirements and have usually arranged this in advance so they are able to eat and enjoy time with the other children.

Of course, your daughter couldn't know what the other kids are going to be like until she meets them. The real question is, does she need help regarding her social skills? If so, then you should consider some form of treatment or intervention for her. The disadvantage of individual therapy when it comes to helping a child learn (notice I didn't say teaching) important and useful skills, is that sitting with an adult who is understanding and empathetic bears very little resemblance to what it feels like actually being with a group of peers. Also, it is necessary for the child to process the information discussed with the adult, practice strategies developed in therapy outside of sessions, and recognize when their own social skill behaviors are adaptive versus maladaptive. That's a tall order for any child or teen.

We do not "teach" social skills. Instead, after evaluating the group of children who will participate in our program, we set up situations that help them learn more effective ways of interacting with peers, managing their emotions in a social setting, learning to handle disappointment, and learning how to make, and keep, friends. Our use of technology keeps them motivated and interested plus allows them to practice behaviors in the office that would not easily be possible out in the community. We have multiple motivating reward systems that are largely based upon peer acknowledgement and status (for example, one peer might encourage another to try a new food, saying: "Remember, you'll probably earn a Hero Ticket."). Finally, we use peer and participant modeling, which can be very effective in helping children learn in indirect, non-threatening ways.

Two-thirds of the world is average when it comes to intellectual prowess. In my experience, intelligence isn't always accompanied by sound, mature judgement and a set of social skills that will advance one social and in their occupation or career. I have know countless highly gifted, underemployed and unemployed individuals who do not develop useful social skills. This costs them friends, job opportunities, and ultimately money and happiness. Learning how to use one's intellect is a powerful gift as well as knowing how to be kind to others. In our program, we accept a wide range of individuals and take care to develop a group where each of them can provide some level of support to others.

We maintain somewhere between a 1:4 to 1:5 staff to group participant ratio. I agree, one person could not likely effectively provide active social skills intervention for more than a few children. Additionally, my staff have specific instructions to monitor selected children and are given specific techniques to use, determined by me. In essence, they are there to provide "the S's:" Support, Supervision, Structure, and Safety. This permits me to act as the "roving clinician." I can observe your children engaged, or not engaged, in conversational and related activities. Then I will often "set up" situations by instructing one or more of my staff or by speaking to one or more students directly. For example, if I see two group members sitting silently at a restaurant, I might say to them, "You will each earn two Hero Tickets if you can tell one of the staff some interesting facts about each other." Then, as one child says to the other (let's say they're teens) "What is your favorite color?" I will immediately interrupt them and ask if that meets the definition of "interesting." If necessary, I will involve an alumni member (someone who has attended the group previously) to help them come up with more truly interesting material for their topic discussion.

My staff, who are typically Bachelor level graduates in psychology, education, or a related field, all have prior experience working with children before being hired. In addition, once they are hired, they participate an an intensive training program that mirrors the Parent Boot Camp program offered to parent when their children are accepted into the program. Finally, I monitor my staff very closely. Supervision is a dynamic, ongoing process. They know that, if I see something I feel should occur differently, I will speak momentarily to one or all of them. Also, I will prompt and direct their interactions via nonverbal signs and gestures that are invisible to the group members.

There are a number of ways that we support parents:

1. Parent Boot Camp - This is a three hour training program we developed in the Summer of 2011. All parents are strongly encouraged to attend. This occurs prior to the first group meeeting. They learn or review the basics of behavior management, learn our various data collection and parent support procedures, learn how to take various diagnoses and turn this information into target behaviors, and learn the kinds of strategies that we use during sessions.

2. Parent Meetings - Our meetings occur three ways: a) In office meetings; b) Parent dinners, designed to help parents get to know one another and ask questions about their children; c) Online parent telemeetings, where families participate from the comfort of their own homes/offices.

3. Parent Email Communication - I often develop extensive email communication relationships with families. This may include anything from clarification of specific techniques I have discussed to asking about how to generalize (extend) behaviors that are successfully changing in group to other setting, such as home, school, or the community.

4. LUNCH Points - Every parent is encouraged to use this program to support the gains observed in LUNCH Groups. It consists of targeting specific behaviors that are important for your individual child and completing our online LUNCH Points program, which takes only a minute. This will result in the generation of a certificate, which parents print out and give to their child. It also contains a "parent review" section, where parents rate the effectiveness of their own behavior. Their child receives additional raffle ticket points based upon how effectively a parent reports they are working with their child. Finally, certificates include reinforcing phrases that parents can read to their child so they can begin to move away from the ubiquitous, and in my opinion useless, "Good Job!" We much prefer that parents make a specific verbal statement, describing what their child did in a concise, easily digestible phrase (e.g., "I'm really proud of how you pick up your room without being reminded."

I have previously presented on the aspects of our program and this handout is available as a free "e-book" (click here to view or download). Shyness is what we consider to be an "internalizing behavior." Our approach for helping these children is quite different than for kids who do not have significant levels of shyness. My staff know that I will guide them as to when we want to be more focused on helping the child develop competent strategies, when we just want them to observe others, and when will be have them practice social skills, even if it makes them uncomfortable. This is a clinical judgment on my part and my staff follow my instructions. For example, recently we had two children waiting at Baja Fresh to order their lunch. One child forget to say "please" and "thank you" and staff appropriately had him start his entire order over, and used our strategy "Positive Practice" to help him order more politely. The next child, who is socially shy, also forgot to use these "words." Rather than focusing on this, my staff knew to focus on him picking up his head as he spoke, looking generally in the direction of the cashier taking his order, and using a slightly louder and more distinct voice level. That was plenty for him to work on, the "please" and "thank you" will have to wait. Finally, I monitor the child's level of autonomic activity as we work with them. Socially anxious children often do not evidence obvious signs of their level of discomfort.

Sophie is my third therapy dog. I have been using dogs to desensitize children and for other adjuncts in therapy since 1980. Previously I gained experience training animals at Sea World, San Diego, where I worked training dolphins for research studies on reinforcement and communication as an undergraduate student.

All of my therapy dogs have been Samoyeds. This breed is known for their intelligence, smiling face, and devotion to children. Sophie has been coming to my office since the Spring of 2009, when she was nine weeks of age. As is the case with my previous Samoyeds, Sascha and Brandy, Sophie will intuitively seek out children or adults who come to the office and "greet" them. At this point, currently 2 years old, she is well-behaved and will gladly avoid someone if I instruct her in that manner. She has a few unusual "tricks" which involve the children and will respond to their commands.

But why use a dog in the first place? I use Sophie as a means for facilitating communication, social understanding, and behavioral inhibition. Sometimes she can be an "attractive nuisance," coming into the large room when the children are supposed to be engaged in a project, such as computer animation. At those times, they are instructed to ignore her and rewarded for doing so. This provides an easy, naturalistic way, to work on behavioral inhibition. If her presence creates a problem, she has a kennel in my office and thinks of it as her "den," so she never minds going into it for a time. I have desensitized many fearful children over the years and particularly in the context of the LUNCH Groups program.