Pirates : An Early-years Group Program for Developing Social Understanding and Social Competence for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Related Challenges

Based on a pirate theme, this social understanding program is for preschool-to third-grade children who have social cognitive challenges, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The program is designed to help these children learn constructive social interaction skills in the area of friendship making, social problem solving, and emotional expression. This eight-adventure pirate voyage includes the following focus areas: social understanding, friendship making, emotional literacy and emotional expression, relaxing, social problem solving, and responding to bullying incidents. Some of the adventures include: 'Pirates and Buccaneers' where the pirates are introduced to helpful versus unhelpful ways of being a friend, and 'Shiver Me Timbers' where the pirates explore appropriate ways to express their emotions.