949.218.9963
OUR MISSION
CLASSES
ABOUT US
EMAIL US
OUR MISSION
At The Friend Ship of Orange County we provide qualitative, comprehensive and individualized social skills training programs for children. We design treatment programs specifically tailored for each child’s unique needs following the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), evidence-based research, and the Social Skill Checklist developed by Kelly McKinnon.
CLASSES
- Currently we have social skill groups for children from age 4 to 13. Groups are 60 to 90 minutes in duration depending on the needs of children and group size.
- We match and place children in groups based on their age, needs, and skill levels. We try our best to include neuro-typical peers in social skill sessions to provide opportunities for peer teaching, peer modeling and generalization.
- Our social skill sessions are designed as a “structured play date”, during which targeted social skills are embedded in fun, play-based activities. Children learn and practice age-appropriate joint attending skills, play skills, social behaviors and social pragmatic skills while having fun.
ABOUT US
Our staff has over 30 years of combined experience in teaching social skills and our programs are supervised by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).
Valerie Chen, MA, BCBA
Valerie has a Master's degree in Developmental Psychology from San Diego State University, and received her certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in 2008. She has over 16 years of experience working with children in the field of ABA. Prior to starting The Friend Ship of Orange County, Valerie worked at Kelly McKinnon and Associates as the assistant director for 9 years.
Alison Silverson, BA
Alison has her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from California State University, Fullerton. She's been working with children with an emphasis in ABA principles since she was in high school. As a child and teen she spent a lot of her spare time as a peer model for children on the Autism Spectrum. Prior to starting The Friend Ship of Orange County, Alison worked at Kelly McKinnon and Associates for 12 years.
We are located at:
31351 Rancho Viejo Rd, #107 in San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
949.218.9963
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