Social programs and activities that connect you with other autistics
The little black duck offers a range of interest-based social programs that are designed to connect autistic people together. By connecting with their autistic community we can help to reduce the isolation and loneliness that is often associated with the autistic neurotype.
Our social development programs aim at developing intrinsic autistic communication skills by focusing on collaboration, critical thinking, mentoring, and problem-solving.
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School Holiday Program
Teen mentoring program
Our six day Teen Mentoring program helps to equip autistic teens with leadership and mentoring skills designed to help them navigate social environments and build strong social relationships.
The Teen Mentors in our program work closely with both their adult mentors and their younger mentees. They receive hands on learning to help them problem solve, develop critical thinking, and work in collaboration with their peers and mentees.
LEGO(TM) social program
Our week long LEGO(TM) program focuses on collaborative planning and building to build social awareness and improve social well being. In groups of four (including a peer mentor) the participants work as a team toward planning and building a domino run made from LEGO(TM) bricks.
Each session the participants work toward both team and individual projects that encourage them to develop social connections and personal insight
Minecraft social program
Our week long Minecraft program focuses on collaborative in-game building. In groups of four (including a peer mentor) the participants work as a team toward building up their quadrant of a Minecraft world, including environments, buildings, and landscape.
It is preferred that participants have their own i-pad or android tablet device and minecraft account. If they don’t have these they are able to hire one of our android devices for the week.
Skills Developed
- Learn about their’s and other people’s strengths, skills, and interests
- Build problem solving skills
- Improve critical thinking skills
- Increases capacity for communication and socialising
- Comradery and friendship
- Setting and meeting goals
- Making and maintaining friends
- Build fine motor skills
- Science and math based learning
- Develops autistic identity and friendships
Click here to download our resource on the benefits and evidence of VR in autism support
Teen and young adult VR social program
A new type of social group that reduces the exhaustion of typical social skill programs and focuses on the authenticity behind autistic friendship, relationships, and communication
Autistic teens express a desire to find people they identify with, just like non-autistic teens, but they find it harder to make and maintain face to face connections. They also express an increased sense of loneliness compared to their non-autistic peers, but due to difficulties in normative socialising, they become more reclusive as they mature and find it harder to “get out and socialise”.
Autistic teens find that many of their online relationships have a much higher value than their face to face relationships, this is where a VR social group comes in. VR creates a low demand, task oriented social activity that can be done in their own home.
VR is a fully immersive environment and reduces the cognitive load socialising face to face produces. It helps the user be fully present in the moment and can help to reduce the anxiety face to face activities can produce. It helps to connect a fun activity with being social, increasing the likelihood of participation.
Our program focuses on cooperative and collaborative style games as well as games that require a lot of physical movement. These types of games help to develop comradery and form new friendships.
Skills Developed
- Learn about their’s and other people’s strengths, skills, and interests
- Build problem solving skills
- Improve critical thinking skills
- Increases capacity for communication and socialising
- Comradery and friendship
- Setting and meeting goals
- Making and maintaining friends
- Increases physical fitness
- Develops autistic identity and friendships
Click here to download our resource on the benefits of using lego in therapy and intervention
LEGO-based STEAM group
A play-based way to encourage exploration and collaboration. Our LEGO-based STEAM program helps curious brains build and create with LEGO to problem solve, develop critical thinking skills, and collaborate in small teams.
Lego is a fantastic medium to help develop a wide range of skills from fine motor development through to improving critical thinking and visual #D mapping and planning.
Participants work in small teams to collaborate, problem solve, and design, construct, and assess weekly STEAM based activities.
Whilst working in a team the participant is learning to self advocate, communicate, and collaborate with their team mates. They are also learning and developing the skills they need to problem solve, build resilience , negotoiate, and find solutions to complex problems.
The groups are carefully designed to meet the sensory. social, and communication style of its members. The overall aim is to foster friendships through mutually shared interests, discussions, and intersctions.
Skills Developed
- Learn about their’s and other people’s strengths, skills, and interests
- Build problem solving skills
- Improve critical thinking skills
- Increases capacity for communication and socialising
- Comradery and friendship
- Setting and meeting goals
- Making and maintaining friends
- Build fine motor skills
- Science and math based learning
- Develops autistic identity and friendships
