Autism Services – Secret Agent Society

Secret Agent Society (SAS) is a breakthrough approach for empowering children’s social and emotional skills. The SAS Small Group Program consists of small group child sessions (club meetings), caregiver group meetings, and tip sheets, paired with real-life practice missions and a system to monitor and reward skill development at home. Combining family and facilitator resources, the content and program structure is accessed through an intuitive and engaging software package that streamlines program delivery and participation for all child and adult participants during in-person sessions and between session activities.

Evidence-based curriculum

The curriculum captivates children with its espionage-themed games and activities. The program was developed to teach children aged 8 to 10 years old with Autism to learn how to:

• Recognize emotions in themselves and others
• Express their feelings in appropriate ways
• Cope with feelings of anger and anxiety
• Communicate and play with others
• Cope with mistakes, transitions, and challenges
• Build and maintain friendships
• Solve social problems
• Prevent and manage bullying and teasing
• Acknowledge their personal strengths

A Behaviour Plan will be created for each participant that will outline their learning goals for the group as well as a progress review to summarize outcomes. Content will be adjusted based on the age range of participants.

Who is Eligible for the Group?

Children between the ages of 8-10 with an ASD diagnosis.

Commitment to the Group?

Participants will attend 10 separate virtual sessions via teams and 1 session at our Kingston centre. Weekly challenges are required to be completed at home with caregiver support.

Caregivers will attend 30-minute virtual sessions following each child session that will provide an opportunity to review the content discussed that week and tips on how to best support the children to complete the weekly challenges.

Group Dates:

Virtual Caregiver Orientation: Tuesday September 12^th, 2023 from 5:30pm-7:30pm (via teams)

Children Sessions:

• Virtually on Tuesdays from September 19^th to November 21^st from 5:30pm to 7:00pm (via teams)
• In person for a final session pizza party on Tuesday, November 28^th from 5:30 to 7:00

Caregiver Session:

• Virtually on Tuesdays from September 19^th to November 21^st from Tuesdays from 7:00pm to 7:30pm (via teams)
• In person following the final session on Tuesday, November 28^th from 7:00-7:30

Registration: Please email [email protected]. Intake applications will be distributed to all interested parties at a later date, to help determine eligibility and appropriateness for this group. If this group is not the best fit for you and your teen, you will be contacted further with a rationale, and other possible options.

Cost: $1000.00

Location: Maltby Centre, Suite 100-31 Hyperion Court, Kingston, ON K7K 7G3

Requirements: To access this group, your child/youth requires an ASD diagnosis and must be within the identified age range.