SOS Health Care, Georgetown, South Carolina – have launched the SOUL Program (Skills of Understanding Life).
The SOUL program is aimed toward autistic youths ages 8-18. Once a week participants have the opportunity to learn new skills and build relationships with staff and other participants.
The program aims to improve conversation skills and to help the learners’ better deal with emotions and behaviours.
SOS Health Care Executive Director Sarah Pope told Christine Anderson from the Georgetown Times:
“Some of these children are students that attend regular classes at school, so they’re doing well cognitively, but it’s emotionally and socially that they need help in life,”
SOUL will meet each Thursday and the participants will be split into deprecate groups according to age level skill.
Sarah continues:
“They don’t usually have a place to go. They just hang out at home with their family. This gives them a place to make friends.”
SOUL provides the opportunity for individuals to meet with like-minded people.
Sarah told the Georgetown Times that she hopes SOUL is just the first step in helping families dealing with autism in the county.
“It’s the first program of its kind in the area and our goal is to really help develop programs for people with autism across Georgetown County thanks to funding we’ve received from the Frances Bunnelle Foundation,”
SOUL will cost participants $20 a month and will meet from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday at North Hampton Baptist Church, 7468 Highmarket Street in Georgetown.
The original article by Christine Anderson in the Georgetown Times can be found here.