Adults

‍Overview

iSocial for adults consists of a comprehensive and effective suite of professional workshops. Separate workshops for transitioning high school graduates, college students, job seekers, mature adults, and corporate programs for their employees. Specialized social skills workshops with an emphasis on careers in Information Technology are available.

We offer a range of workshops for adults based on their abilities and goals. We have fundamental level and professional level workshops. Neurodiverse employees attend workshops from IBM, Mercy Health, and even a past US Air Force crew chief on a B-1 bomber.

Students don’t leave after graduating.
Over 75% continue to meet once a week to talk to their friends for fun and support.

Workshop methodology

• Zoom is used to team 6 adults from across the country based on age, abilities, goals, careers, and interests.

• There are 32 one-hour evening sessions conducted twice a week for 16 weeks using Zoom. They are professionally conducted, active workshops and not lecture-based. They are also a great deal of fun.

• iSocial is a social competence intervention.  This is not memory work. We address the root causes of social challenges. Students learn by being very active in role play labs, team contests, discussing videos. They also benefit by talking twice a week to five people like them.

• We don’t train anyone to “mask” who they are. They think differently and the world needs people who think differently. iSocial is considerably different from its peers.

Key takeaways

• iSocial isn’t for everyone. Participants need the ability to talk with others in a group.

• Students don’t leave. About 80% volunteer to meet weekly after they graduate.

• The first step is a telephone interview where we discuss goals, abilities, and answer parent’s questions.

Related media

• Here is a link to an 8 minute video where our Dr. John Bruno describes iSocial, why it is effective, and the university study results. You will see pre-and post-functional MRI images of an iSocial student’s brain as captured by the University of Missouri, Columbia campus. You will also see details of the university research results. John describes each of the 6 units in the workshops and how they tie together.

• Here is a link to a video of a typical session. Students learn by doing. In this exercise they are on a sinking ship and need to use their social skills to work as a team to decide which items to take from the cargo hold to a nearby island. The facilitator is Jaclyn Benigno from the University of Missouri.

• Here is a link that shows how iSocial connects individuals with common interests. This makes conversation and social interaction much easier. None of these students knew how to freely converse with others when they started. This video was captured about five weeks into the program and their confidence and skills have really grown at this point. I know they are excited about Legos and science fiction, but part of their joy is from finally having friends just like them to share a common interest.

Professional Communications and Leadership Skills Workshop  

The Professional Communications and Leadership Skills Workshop (PCLS) is a series of case-based sessions designed to empower neurodiverse students to thrive in their school and work environments. Participants are led through sessions involving case studies, lessons, challenges, realistic role play, and social skills labs. Workshop sessions take place virtually, for one hour, twice a week, over 16 weeks. Groups are strategically placed into a small community of learners where all create personalized tools for success in the classroom and in personal life. iSocial conducts the sessions with nationally known employment and autism experts. 

Expected outcomes

Upon successful completion the participant will improve their ability to:

• Read and interpret emotions with greater accuracy.
• Improve awareness of one’s professional image.
• Be a more effective team player.
• Develop advanced problem-solving strategies.
• Understand the elements of advocacy.
• Utilize goal-setting to move from surviving to thriving.
• Understand the importance of networking.

PCLS workshop—as described by past students

“Autism affects us all differently. It is an unseen force that consumes our aptitude in things that most people would consider as common sense. This often manifests in difficulty with social skills. PCLS provides tools, clarity, and processing techniques to help us cope with aspects of communication that we often struggle with. Social networking, for example, is a somewhat advanced social concept that can be effective to those able to make use of it. iSocial’s PCLS strives to teach us how and why it works, as well as the benefits of understanding/using it. Other concepts, like self-advocacy, goal setting, and relationship structures, are discussed in the same way. For those of us that see these concepts as exotic or alien, mastering them can be life changing.”

—IT Department manager at Mercy Health

“PCLS spread out all of my actions and reactions in detail in front of me so I could see them. Then it showed me which ones to focus on: what was actually happening with myself and others and what was just my paranoid fear. When I learned whereto focus my attention, I discovered I actually had the skills I needed to succeed. This program gave me both the clarity and the confidence to use my skills effectively. Tearing down my doubt about making mistakes and replacing it with confidence means that I’m empowered to go to bat for myself.”

—Former USAF B-1 bomber crew chief

Workshop outline

Unit 1: Professional Communication Skills

• Micro-expressions, reading emotions, reading a room, body language.
• Accurate perspective taking.
• Social skills lab.

Unit 2: Professional Image

• Determining the professional image the student wants to craft.
• Role of appearance, behavior, and communication in a professional image
• Rigidity vs. flexibility.

Unit 3: Spotting and Repairing Social Errors

• A tool for identifying when a social error has occurred.
• Repairing errors after they have occurred.
• Preventing future errors.

Unit 4: Conflict Resolution

• Strategies for effectively responding to a conflict.
• How and when to address, assert, or advocate for oneself.
• Matching solutions to conflict.

Unit 5: Self-Advocacy

• Steps for self-advocating.
• Understanding rights.
• Identifying when there is benefit in disclosing.

Unit 6: From Surviving to Thriving

• Advancement.
• Reflection on current situation versus preferred situation.
• Tools to help move from surviving to thriving.