A few minutes with Dr. Gale discussing the L.U.N.C.H. Group Program

What happens during this program?

Depending on the perspective of the person participating, the program will seem different. 

From the child’s perspective, it is my hope that they feel like they are 1) having fun; 2) learning new skills in a way that feels enjoyable; and 3) practicing the skills they learn.  To accomplish this, they will have a chance to use many different technologies.  These include: using computer animation, two-way remote controls, creating a PowerPoint presentation of what they like and dislike about the way they are treated by peers, teachers, and family members, creating avatar interviews, going shopping for BBQ’s, and choosing where to go out to eat.  They also….

Wait a minute!  Did you say going out to BBQ’s and eating out?  How is this part of a group?

Believe it or not, I do some of my hardest work during this portion of the group.  For our BBQs, we shop for our food next door at Gelson’s Market (2 minutes walking distance from door to door) and bring it back to BBQ (only adults are at the BBQ grills).  The students set up places, get all of the condiments out and eat in our courtyard area.  The entire field trip is videotaped by students and becomes one of the group projects.  The BBQ, which will happen a few times during the course of each group session, is one of our most popular events.

The BBQ does sound interesting.  But what about going out to eat every day?  Shouldn’t they be indoors learning?

Certainly indoor time is important and valuable.  But, just as with the BBQ, going out to eat allows students to practice and learn important related skills that positively impact their ability to effectively socialize.  Deciding where to go, holding a conversation while walking, paying attention to important pedestrian safety behaviors, ordering food, and combining talking and eating, are important life skills that cannot be worked on indoors. In fact, it is interesting to watch how the “shape” of the group changes as they walk to and from places each day.  Often, they start off socializing less and are more scattered as they walk (think of herding kittens!).  Over time, they find things to talk about and walk in more of an oval pattern (within each “team”).  Similar changes occur in the restaurant.

What about picky eaters?  They might not eat anything during the mealtime.  Isn’t that a problem?

This comes up every group.  I try to make the focus on socializing, not on eating.  Most children and certainly adolescents do not like feeling pressured or forced to try new things.  So, we don’t force.  However, if they do talk about or sample a new food, something wonderful and unexpected happens.  Sorry, I can’t give away what that is or it spoils the surprise.  But, the students learn about what will occur during the first session when we discuss rules.

If a child does not eat very much, is there a refund for his or her food?

No, we keep careful records of what the kids order and how much the group spends.  We do not track individual expenses, it just becomes too complicated.  However, as we budget, if the food portion is coming in lower than we planned, the extra money goes into additional rewards for the students.  Occasionally, we will get a student who seems to purposefully restrict their food because they want more rewards, but we have a response that effectively manages that situation very quickly.  (Sorry, another secret until it happens in group, but it is a positive approach and it has always worked for us).

Going back to where we started, you mentioned how the group appears from the child’s perspective, was there more?

Thanks for reminding me.  Yes, from the parent’s perspective, they will be exposed to two sets of skills to practice. The first will be some generic tools and ways of interacting with their child that we have found successful with the majority of our families and are consistent with the research on positive behavior approaches.  The second set will be targeted skills that each family develops for their unique situation.  Every child is a little different from his or her peers and our more customized approaches reflect this.

Families will be able to provide teachers and school staff with a detailed review about what strategies were successful in promoting academic and social success in our groups so that they can be carried out during school.  Teachers will be asked to continue daily data collection about student success for the first 4 to 5 months into the school year as part of the program.  We encourage families to request that their child be able to continue using the data reporting system they began using in group during the school year as well.  Any teacher wishing to discuss a child will be able to participate in the same teleconferencing system as is available for parents, at a modest additional cost to the family or school district.

You seem to promote quite a bit of technology in your groups.  Why?  Can’t the program work just as well without it?

It has been my experience that, for good and bad, our children live in the world of technology.  Pretending that isn’t so won’t change reality.  In the group, we only use technology in a purposeful and motivating way.  The only time participants actually use technology is to build social skills and related areas.  This is why we let them operate video equipment, bring in favorite music or original artwork, but do not let them operate the computer during projects.

Sometimes there will be students who do not care for or even dislike using technology.  I think of this as the difference between being an actor in a play versus working as part of the crew.  Both are valuable roles.  No child is ever forced to use technology.  In fact, we build many of our projects initially using flip charts at each table.  The goal is to teach organizational and interactive skills, not to create proficient computer users.

What if a parent is concerned their child will be around “lower functioning” children? 

This is a sensitive issue, but one that we have previously addressed successfully in the program.  Because of the extensive amount of information we collect regarding each child, we are able to arrange groups of students with similar or complementary interests.  Also, we are not accepting students diagnosed with Autism, but rather individuals with a range of challenges that reflect intact language and basic social functioning.  At a certain level however, students need to learn to tolerate differences in others.  Nothing about this group “brands,” “labels,” or “stigmatizes” the participants.  Any student who has problems tolerating others will quickly learn they can earn extra point tickets for learning how to become more tolerant. 

How can someone learn more about the program?

Visit our website and download the information packet.  Beyond that, sending me an email by clicking here is probably the best way to have your questions answered.  If none of that works, call me at 818-788-2100 x1.  I usually return calls later the same day or the next day at the latest.