All Play­Date loca­tions are fully acces­si­ble. Most activ­i­ties are safe and acces­si­ble for par­tic­i­pants with phys­i­cal lim­i­ta­tions; when a par­tic­u­lar activ­ity, such as hik­ing, would present sig­nif­i­cant dif­fi­cul­ties, an alter­nate will also be offered.

Play­Date Social Skills Groups

As with any­thing else, chil­dren learn social skills by being given ample oppor­tu­nity to prac­tice them. Social Skills Groups were PlayDate’s first offer­ing, and they remain a core ele­ment in our matrix of ser­vices. Social Skills Groups meet one hour per week for six-​week ses­sions. Par­tic­i­pants are grouped by age and devel­op­men­tal level and paired with peer mod­els, sim­i­larly aged chil­dren who model age-​appropriate social skills.

To your child, a Play­Date group feels like play time. Our par­tic­i­pants play games, sing songs, and enjoy out­ings to the zoo, the park, or the movies — in short, they share the expe­ri­ences that build friend­ships. At the same time, our trained staff is using proven tech­niques to ease your child into more com­fort­able social inter­ac­tions. As adult imple­menters pro­vide gen­tle guid­ance using research-​based, data-​driven meth­ods, peer mod­els offer both pos­i­tive exam­ples and friend­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties. These groups pro­vide the inter­ac­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties that develop skills such as shar­ing, turn tak­ing, line wait­ing, and appro­pri­ate con­ver­sa­tional ini­ti­a­tion and response. When­ever pos­si­ble, imple­menters remain observers, allow­ing par­tic­i­pants to learn by doing, to build rela­tion­ships independently.

Social Skills Groups are held at our behav­ioral cen­ter on Sat­ur­days between 10 am and 4 pm. New ses­sions begin approx­i­mately every two weeks. Please con­tact us for more infor­ma­tion regard­ing rates and avail­abil­ity of upcom­ing sessions.

Play­Mates

Play­Mates is a parent/​child group for tod­dler and very young chil­dren with devel­op­men­tal dis­abil­i­ties. Dur­ing a Play­Mates ses­sion, imple­menters work with chil­dren and their par­ents. Chil­dren begin to acquire basic behav­ior man­age­ment skills; par­ents learn strate­gies for deal­ing with — and pre­vent­ing — a range of neg­a­tive behav­iors, includ­ing tantrums, attention-​seeking behav­iors, and more.

Sat­ur­day Sports

Our Sat­ur­day Sports pro­gram pro­vides another oppor­tu­nity for skill-​building social inter­ac­tions. The 90-​minute pro­gram teaches higher-​functioning par­tic­i­pants the basic rules of a num­ber of com­mon sports, includ­ing soc­cer, base­ball, and bas­ket­ball. Each ses­sion is designed to help par­tic­i­pants develop team­work skills and under­stand appro­pri­ate behav­ior dur­ing the game; the group also pro­vides oppor­tu­ni­ties for chil­dren with more sig­nif­i­cant dis­abil­i­ties to engage in reg­u­lar phys­i­cal activ­ity and learn basic par­tic­i­pa­tion skills.

The Sat­ur­day Sports pro­gram meets for 90 min­utes each Sat­ur­day at the park across from our behav­ioral cen­ter. Please con­tact us for more infor­ma­tion regard­ing rates and avail­abil­ity of upcom­ing sessions.

After-​School Program

PlayDate’s after-​school pro­gram focuses on teach­ing the social skills required by aca­d­e­mic set­tings. Par­tic­i­pants com­plete their home­work while gain­ing prac­tice in giv­ing and receiv­ing help via peer tutor­ing. The goal is to develop self-​awareness with regard to strengths and weak­nesses and to develop self-​motivated aca­d­e­mic achieve­ment. Imple­menters also pro­vide alter­nate activ­i­ties, such as games or projects, to give par­tic­i­pants fur­ther oppor­tu­ni­ties to prac­tice team­work and con­ver­sa­tion skills. Depend­ing on par­tic­i­pants’ needs and the weather, groups may also spend time at the park, play­ing sports.

The after-​school pro­gram meets Monday-​Friday, 3pm — 6 pm, except school hol­i­days. Please con­tact us for more infor­ma­tion regard­ing rates and avail­abil­ity of upcom­ing sessions.

Teen Group

The Teen Group pro­vides high-​functioning teens, aged 12 – 17 years, age-​appropriate social out­ings designed to help them become com­fort­able in group set­tings and develop friend­ships with same-​aged peers. The group meets sev­eral times each month for a vari­ety of out­ings, includ­ing movies, bowl­ing, roller skat­ing, mini-​golf, hik­ing, indoor rock climb­ing, and much more.

The cost varies each month depend­ing on the activ­i­ties offered; fam­i­lies are expected to pro­vide funds for event-​specific expenses, such as movie tick­ets. Please con­tact us for more infor­ma­tion regard­ing rates and avail­abil­ity of upcom­ing sessions.

Please con­tact us for more infor­ma­tion regard­ing rates and avail­abil­ity of upcom­ing sessions.