Family Support: Programs for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills® (PEERS) for Preschoolers

Understanding and responding to social cues can be hard for young kids on the autism spectrum. Akron Children’s is here to help with the PEERS for Preschoolers program. This social skills program teaches kids ages 4 to 6 how to make and keep friends.

• The program has 16 group sessions, once a week, each lasting 90 minutes.
• Kids learn social skills by doing fun activities, watching puppet shows and acting out different situations.
• They get to practice these skills during the sessions and at home.
• Parents join in, too, and learn how to coach their kids.

Children will learn skills to help them:

• Listen and follow directions
• Ask and use names
• Greet friends
• Share and take turns
• Ask friends to play
• Join ongoing games
• Keep cool during play
• Be a good sport
• Transition to new play activities
• Ask for and give help
• Use good volume control
• Maintain good body boundaries

PEERS for Preschoolers helps kids with autism spectrum disorder or other social communication disorders. Experts at UCLA created the PEERS program to teach kids how to make friends and be a good friend.