BUILDING SOCIAL SKILLS
Speech therapy supported
SOCUAL SUPPORTS
Social Skills Services
Where kids find their tribe
Our mission is to support kids, teens & young adults to form meaningful friendships, build self-confidence and understand others.
Our programs are for kids to...
Find their tribe
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Connect with others who think, feel, and experience similar things
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Have a safe space to feel like they 'fit in'
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Make and maintain friendships
Understand others
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Understand different people's perspectives
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Understand how people's brains can work differently
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Navigate social conflicts
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Work as part of a team
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Identify social cues and messages from others
Build their self-esteem
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Grow confidence and resilience
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Believe in their skills as a great communicator and friend
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Set their own goals and the next steps they would like to achieve
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Practice, breakdown and navigate social situations that occur and feel challenging. For example, competition, team sports, team work
Our programs
Our programs support both neurodiverse and neurotypical individuals.
Parents and students have described Talk Together groups as neuroaffirming, and setting kids/teens up in safe ways for the world they are going to experience.
We couldn't put it better ourselves!
We support children, teens and young adults to gain social skills meaningful to them in 3 main ways:
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After-school social support groups
(Groups for 5-18 year olds) and Young Adult Community Group (16+ years) -
In-school social support groups (Primary and Intermediate aged students)
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One-to-one support sessions (all ages)
The overarching themes below are focused on throughout all of our programs:
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Communication skills
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Forming and maintaining friendships
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Seeing things from other's perspectives
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Resilience & confidence development
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Emotional regulation (learning about, recognising and managing our emotions in healthy ways)
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Team work
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Conflict resolution skills
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Identifying other people's social cues
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Leadership skills
Each and every service is tailored to the individuals attending. Student participation, comfort and achievements are constantly observed and plans are altered throughout the term (even within sessions!) to cater for the specific individuals in front of us- their needs and their goals.
Locations
Our After-School groups are held across 3 locations:
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Rolleston
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Christchurch
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Online
Our In-School support services are carried out at your child's school
Our one-to-one support can take place online, in our clinic or at your location of choice.
LEGO Therapy- School Holiday Programes
Run on selected School Holidays
This is a 4 hour programme run across two consecutive days in the July School holidays. Suitable for 5-11 year olds.
Students will work in small groups with similar aged peers supported by our facilitators.
What is LEGO Therapy?
Our LEGO groups are a proven and neurodiversity-affirming way to build strong social, emotional regulation and team work skills while having fun! Kids work in small groups guided by one of our multidisciplinary facilitators to engage in LEGO build projects with others.
LEGO & creating is the vehicle used to achieve student goals as it taps into something kids already love (but often do solo) and layers in social communication and interaction with others. Areas such as emotional regulation and conflict resolution are also supported.
As always our Talk Together groups are tailored to the children attended and kids are supported to work towards their individual goals within a group setting.
Rolleston
9am-11am
Christchurch
Sydenham
12.30pm-2.30pm
Our services are
Enrolling now!
Our services run year-round.
To join now or in the future, click the "Enroll Now" button below to register your details to be notified about the next student intake.
In-School Support Groups
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Small group sessions at school, planned and run by an expert member of our team.
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Individualised sessions for your child, created for their needs.
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Transferable progress from the group sessions to the classroom and playground.
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Effective, specifically tailored support with your child's friends and/or potential friends making up the group.
One-to-One Social Communication Support
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Specialist sessions one-on-one with your child/ teen and one of our experienced Speech-Language Therapists/ Facilitators.
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Tailored and bespoke support for your child's specific needs and goals.
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Suitable for all communication journeys, goals and levels.
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Effective way to establish skills that can be transferred from the session into a group or community setting.
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One to one support is a great starting point for some students.
After-School 5-9 years Social Skills Groups
Setting social skills up for life is our aim here!
Children learn to recognise their role (and contributions) to group tasks, navigate friendship dynamics, see and understand things from others perspectives & develop skills to work effectively in a group.
This is a 6 week programme
Online
5pm -5.45pm
Mondays
Rolleston
4.40pm & 5.30pm
Tuesdays
Christchurch
5pm - 6pm
Thursdays
After-School 10-13 years Social Skills Groups
This is the age where things get complicated!
There is often a need to 'read the social scene' in situations that in the past were very 'black & white'.
Our focus here is a smooth transition for kids through this phase and robust skills for making friends and 'keeping up' with the social challenges faced while building self confidence.
This is a 6 week programme
Online
6pm -6.45pm
Mondays
Rolleston
6.20pm - 7.20 pm
Tuesdays
Christchurch
6.10-6.50pm
& 7-7.40 pm
Thursdays
After School 14+ years Social Skills Groups
This group has a big social focus with the students having lots of input into the groups direction & content.
Half of each session is a more structured facilitator led topic area and the other half focuses on friendship building,
maintaining & navigating different social contexts through a variety of activities.
For those in the middle & second part of high school.
This is a 6 week programme
Online
7pm - 7.45pm
Mondays
Rolleston
7.30-8.30pm
Tuesdays
Christchurch
7.30-8.30pm
Thursdays
Talk Together Community- Young Adults & Teens Social Skills Group
This is a monthly catch up to make and maintain friendships. Think monthly book club or social catch up with a social, supportive vibe. This community offers a sense of belonging and builds confidence as well as friendships.
For older teens and young adults.
These monthly 1 hour sessions happen in the community and are facilitated by the Talk Together team. Locations alternate between Christchurch City & Rolleston and locations are near public transport routes.
Contact us for more information & membership pricing
Rolleston & Christchurch
7.30 - 8.30 pm
Wednesday
Monthly
Social Skills Support Enrollment Request
Pathways & Pricing
All New students joining us at Talk Together have an initial new student session. New student sessions ensure kids get the absolute most out of their time with us
In this session we:
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Get to know the student, their interests and strengths.
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Understand student's current challenges and set some next step goals they would like to achieve.
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Provide a next step or challenge to focus on at home right away.
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Make a recommendation for the best way we can support the student's social communication journey.
This could be an After-School group, setting up an In-School group or a one-to-one session. As students achieve goals they may end up swapping between services- our main aim is always tailored support that achieves supportive results.
The new student session can occur online or in the community.
A caregiver or support person is always required for this session.
Contact us to get our info pack for details!
Our programs are perfect for returning students!
While you are welcome to attend one program at Talk Together in isolation, many of our students are returning. We see the biggest successes and changes in our returning students.
Understanding others, building self belief and extending social skills takes practise and returning students are extended as their skills develop within our program. Our programs are perfect for returning students as overall themes stay the same but how we achieve these are always changing.
In fact- 1/2 to 3/4 of the students in any Talk Together group are returning students! We are so proud of our returning students who feel a real sense of belonging at Talk Together and are always so welcoming to new students!
Pricing
We work hard at Talk Together to run all of our Social Communication supports as cost effectively as possible for families without sacrificing quality or expertiese.
Carer support and Individualised funding can be used for all of our Social Communication services.
Contact us for an information pack, including all prices.
