This is an outstanding series of social skills training videos for children and teens that were developed by Terese Dana, a behavior analyst and social skills consultant.

Product review by Joan Tanenhaus

Discoveries, New and Noteworthy Software

Closing the Gap

 

I am ordering more videos from you.  I use the first video almost  daily both in the social skills groups I run at the office and in individual sessions.  This video with Jonathan is what I have been waiting, what seems a lifetime for.  It holds the kids' attention so well and I find that the same video can be used for numerous scenarios.

Kelly Moroz Director of the Moroz Child Psychology Group

Calgary, Alberta Canada

 

I just wanted to let you know that I went to your workshop at the Autism NJ conference and I have been using the disappointment cards with great success!  My students with autism can relate to these concrete situations, and they have helped to deescalate many meltdowns!  Great product!

Conference Attendee

 

Just wanted to drop you a quick line to say how very much we are benefiting from your video tapes...we have owned the first one for many years and it is absolutely invaluable to us...a resource we use EVERY day with some of our elementary kids.  We have owned the 2nd tape too, and are now purchasing the most recent one. THANKS so very much!

Lori Janzen K-3 Resource Teacher

 

I have been using your tape in my social skills groups.  The kids LOVE your scenarios and so do their parents.

Susan Finley, L.C.S.W.  Social Worker/Therapist,

Cooper Medical Center, Camden, New Jersey 

 

In my weekly newsletter, I recommended your DVD's. The kids really like them. Tonight one of the girls said, "So I shouldn't do this...etc."  Wow!   It creates good thinking! It is very interesting to watch the students when they are viewing your DVD.  I usually only try to do one or two segments...but once they start watching it and we have discussion afterwards, they want to watch more.

Ellen Coulston

 

I loved your tape. I showed it to the graduate class I am teaching through Brooklyn and Queens College, as well as to my teachers and educational supervisors here at Eden II.  We all agreed that it's the best resource we have seen for teaching social skills to children on the autism spectrum. We thought that each segment highlighted a major deficit area, and provided instruction in a systematic way (i.e., kids got to view an interaction, and then view the perspective of the child with autism and that of the typical peer.) The tape provides very practical strategies for children and instructors. I think every school should have a copy in their resource library. Children with autism need systematic instruction to learn appropriate social skills and behaviors. Teachers and therapists working with children on the spectrum desperately need resources, curricula and systematic instruction on how to implement effective strategies to promote appropriate social skills. Fitting In and Having Fun provides such support to students and teachers. I hope you produce more tapes like this!

Randy Horowitz, Associate Executive Director of Educational Services,

Eden ll, Staten Island, NY

 

 

I just purchased your video Fitting in and Having Fun. It is awesome!!!! I have a six year old with PDD. He is high functioning and in a regular ed. first grade class. I have been searching for a tool to help teach these skills. Your video is great because it helps kids "get" the theory of mind stuff that is so difficult. Thanks for making such a helpful video!!!

Parent

 

I cannot tell you how wonderful this File Factor chart is. My whole class is using it. It has been a great place for them to vent what is upsetting them.

Marilee Abramshe, Teacher, Congers, NY

 

Social skill deficits are some of the hardest to overcome come at the secondary school level.  This DVD provides video models that help teach key social skills specific to this age group.  I particularly liked the breakdown and modeling of the appropriate behavior, all created with actual high school students making it very real

Kristina L. Stevens, M.S. Special Services Coordinator,

Fryeburg Academy, Fryeburg, Maine

 

I bought your TD Social Skills “Fitting In” video.  Wow! That is my 9 year old in so many of those scenes. After watching your video, I know you get it.  Some think they do and others really do.

Parent

 

I just wanted to let you know that I went to your workshop at the Autism NJ conference in October, and I have been using the (File Factor Emotional Empowerment System) disappointment cards with great success! My students with autism can relate to these concrete situations, and they have helped to deescalate many meltdowns! Great product!

Conference Attendee

 

I run the social skills curriculum (lunch bunch) in our school as well as my caseload of about 45 students.  I cannot tell you how much I love your videos (and the kids do too)!  

Jen Worden, Speech/Language Pathologist,

Eames Way Elementary School, Marshfield, MA

 

Your video is really great; my son, who is eight, was completely taken with it and couldn't stop watching. I think it's a valuable tool and plan to show it to our Director of Special Education

Parent

 

What a wonderful tape!  This is a terrific idea and tool to use in the classroom.  Each scenario is a meaningful lesson.

Dr. Harry Saslow, School Psychologist, Chairman of the Child Study Team,

Cresskill School District, Cresskill, New Jersey

 

I received our video the other day and we LOVE it.  We so very much need more of these types of videos.  It was well done.  I have been waiting for videos to be made for teaching social skills (as well as other skills) for children with Autism for a long time.  Finally!!   Many thanks.  Could you please let me know when your next video is ready for shipping?  Many thanks.

Parent

 

TD Social Skills Video is THE VIDEO that we have all been waiting for to teach advanced social skills to children with Asperger's and high-functioning autism.  The clips seem very "real" and are interesting enough to keep the children's attention.  I am already using this video with my students and only hope there will be more to come.  This video fills a void in the social skills curriculum for children with autism and it will be of great benefit to many students for years to come not to mention the assistance it will provide to the professionals who will use it.

Dr. Mary E. McDonald, Associate Executive Director,

The Genesis School/Eden ll Programs, Long Island, NY

 

My 9-year old son LOVED Fitting In and Having Fun, Vol.#1, great work! I'm lending it to my son's language/guidance specialists for them to preview.

Parent

 

This video provides concrete, relevant information and practical tools to prepare children for middle school, while empowering them with life skills.  Each topic, presented by teens, encourages students to comfortably discuss real issues, getting to the heart of their unspoken fears.

Dr. Deborah Adamy, PhD., LMSW Psychotherapist /Educational Consultant

 

The Social Skills video Fitting In and Having Fun is a valuable resource for the classroom teacher.

Geneve Patterson, 5th grade teacher, Mount Kisco, New York

 

I'm just wondering when you expect to have your upcoming videos available?  I just received "Fitting In & Having Fun," and I think it is exactly what I've been looking for to help my TV-obsessed Asperger's son learn better social skills. 

Parent

 

TD Social Skills Videos bring to life the many social challenges faced by children with high-functioning autism.  Through an engaging and relevant series of enacted scenarios, the videos explore the complexities of interpersonal interactions—from the perspectives of both children with autism and their normative peers—with insight, compassion, and refreshingly practical wisdom. TD Social Skills has created a much-needed product for high functioning children with autism who struggle to negotiate the social world.

Dr. Bridget A. Taylor, Co-founder and Director of Education,

The Alpine Learning Group, Paramus, NJ

 

Your tape is wonderful.  It is a great vehicle for accountability and perspective...something we could all use!  

Parent

 

I was recently introduced to your videos through a friend who teaches middle school students with ASD. I have been looking for a social skills video for my students for a few years now without luck. I loved volume one of your series, and wish you could create something similar for early childhood. Thank you for all you do to help students, families and teachers address the importance of social skill development

Dianne Breezee, ECSE Teacher,

Longfellow School - ECSE Autism Program

 

I have been using Volume 1 with a number of students and I just love it and the students’ request watching it. I am looking forward to using the next

Karla Anderson, Speech/Language Pathologist

 

These videos tackle tricky subjects like taking a joke too far and what's unique is their use of inset video to depict the "inner thought bubble" of what peers are thinking...providing important, and often unspoken, context and insight into peer reactions. If you have a school-aged child, and are using video -modeling in your home program, this is the resource for you!

Autism Society of British Columba

 

I shared Fitting In/Having Fun with my kids' teachers and they loved it and are finding it useful.

Parent

 

I really enjoy the videos; the students I work with all had positive things to say about them! 

Alicia Richards Ingiosi, MSEd, BCBA, Autism Behavior Therapist

 

Love these Videos - I find them very helpful and grounded works. 

Paul M. McDonnell, PhD. Professor Emeritus & Psychologist (NB)

 

Just had a chance to look at The File Factor, it's wonderful! I think they will be very popular.

Patti Kirk, Parentbooks Toronto, ON Canada

 

I ordered and received The File Factor Logbook. I am impressed and have a number of clients for whom this strategy will be helpful.

Cindy L. Tucker, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist

 

I just received and watched "Fitting in and Having Fun."  It is a great video.  Thanks for producing it.  The upcoming videos look great too. 

Parent

 

I had class this week and WOW my students could not say enough nice things about you and your curriculum!

Shelby P. Conneely, MA, BCBA, Educational Behavioral Consultant

 

I am really liking the social skill DVDs and use them daily

Parent

 

Thank you for The File Factor and DVD’s, they are fantastic!

Elizabeth Zook, Teacher, Portland Maine

 

I have been using one of your DVD's in my guidance office and really like it. James Driedger, Guidance Counselor, Canada

 

THANK YOU for doing this, and I hope you do more.

Parent

 

I love these! I can't wait to show them to teachers and parents, as well as to use them with my own patients. Keep up the good work!

Teresa Bolick, Ph.D

 

People keep asking for more TD products.  Any idea when you will be releasing your next fabulous item?

Cherri Saltzman, Autism Resource Network, Inc.  Hopkins, MN

 

Thanks for providing such great products/videos.

Parent

 

I would like to purchase Volume 2.  We used the other two (videos) last year and they were quite successful.  I am using them in a third grade this year where there is a student with ASD and he loves them.

Joseph T. Schippa, PhD., NCSP School Psychologist

 

Thanks for making the video.  I'm looking forward to more of them.

Parent

 

Those cards (from the File Factor Emotional Empowerment System) you used with my student, where am I able to purchase them?  We have students who could benefit from them!!!

Teacher, Monticello, NY

 

Thank you for making this video and I'll eagerly look forward to your forthcoming "works in progress."

Parent

 

Thanks so much-love the videos!!!!

Parent

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"I have to say that your sample videos are the best I found. The "actors" seem genuine and the scenes were not babyish/oversimplified, the flow seemed natural. Its hard to find something that a high-functioning, super smart kid doesn't feel is talking down to him or is stupid. I will definitely tell others about these videos."
Parent

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"My student  really does respond to this DVD.  When we talked about any kind of situations prior to using the DVD he would escalate .  Now I just make reference to Jake on the tape and it opens a conversation. "
June Nunnari, teacher, Massachusetts 

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"I have begun using the File Factor Lessons and video modeling with a student in the home environment. He has practically memorized the Confident and In Control dvd-it is truly helping him develop skills and self awareness.  My client's younger brother watches the videos and participates in our discussions and role plays...this afternoon he said "I can't wait to meet Jake!" He then went on to say all the things they will do together.  It was really great.  They identify so much to the kids in the videos--I plan to get Fitting In and Having Fun, soon. 
Have a great day and ​THANK YOU for your great social skills materials!"

Jennifer Boyter, SSP, BCBA
Autism Coordinator