Social Skills Training for Children with Autism

What Is Social Skills Training?

Social skills training at Luminaria is rooted in ABA — Applied Behavior Analysis. That means we don't just put kids in a room and hope they figure out friendship. We break social interactions down into teachable steps, practice them in real-world settings, and use positive reinforcement to help your child build confidence one interaction at a time.

This isn't a generic social skills group where kids sit in a circle and talk about feelings (though there's nothing wrong with that). Our approach is individualized to your child's specific challenges. If your child struggles with starting conversations, that's what we work on. If they have trouble reading body language, we practice that. Every child's social world looks different, and their training should too.

Skills We Build

Social skills cover a lot of ground. Here's what we focus on, based on your child's needs:

• Turn-taking and sharing — the foundation of playing with others, whether it's a board game or a swing set
• Conversation skills — starting conversations, staying on topic, asking questions, knowing when it's your turn to talk
• Reading facial expressions and body language — understanding what someone means even when they don't say it out loud
• Making and keeping friends — approaching peers, inviting someone to play, maintaining friendships over time
• Handling disagreements — learning to compromise, walk away, or ask for help instead of melting down
• Group participation — joining in classroom activities, following group instructions, working on team projects
• Greetings and farewells — saying hello, making eye contact, waving goodbye
• Perspective-taking — understanding that other people have different thoughts and feelings

How Sessions Work

Social skills training happens one-on-one with your child's therapist, often in natural settings where social interactions actually happen — your home, a playground, a grocery store, or during community outings. We don't just teach skills in theory; we practice them in the real world.

Sessions might include role-playing a conversation, practicing joining a game at the park, or working through a structured play date with a sibling or peer. Your therapist models the skill, helps your child practice, and provides positive reinforcement when they try — even imperfectly. Over time, your child internalizes these skills and uses them independently.

We also coach parents on how to create social practice opportunities throughout the week. When you know what your child is working on, you can set up moments for them to practice — during a family dinner, at a cousin's birthday party, or when a neighbor's kid comes over to play.

Who Benefits from Social Skills Training?

• Children who struggle with peer interactions — playing alongside others but not with them, difficulty sharing or taking turns
• Kids entering school who need to navigate classrooms, lunchrooms, and playgrounds for the first time
• Children who prefer solitary play and may need gentle support to engage with others
• Older children and teens navigating increasingly complex social situations — group projects, texting etiquette, understanding sarcasm
• Children who have strong language skills but still struggle to connect socially — they can talk but have trouble with the back-and-forth of conversation