High School Social Events and Parenting Workshops

This group meets one Sunday a month.  Teens attend a social/recreational group while their parents are at a workshop on topic relevant to teens with AS and related conditions.  (Topics are listed below.)

Parents of middle schoolers are welcome to attend the workshops however, the social group is limited to high school students only.  Parents are welcome to attend without their teen, but teens may not attend without a parent.

All groups meet from 2:30 to 5:00 pm at AANE Offices in Watertown.

Member Rate:
$40.00 for a teen and parent(s)
$30.00 for parent(s) only

Non-Member Rate:
$50.00 for a teen and parent(s)
$40.00 for parent(s) only
(includes a one-year membership to AANE)

Dates and Topics for the Workshop and Social Group

Registration links for each of these workshops are forthcoming.

November 7th: Helping Teens Stay Safe in Relationships
Speaker:  Sally Fogel, M.Ed
This workshop will focus on how parents can facilitate their teens emotional and physical safety. It will cover topics related to many relationships in their lives including friendship, romance, and interaction in the community, school, work and family. On-line safety will also be addressed.

December 5th: Study Skills and Time Management for High School Students
Speaker:  Bonnie Glickman, M.Ed., M.Sc.
This workshop will cover the context and common challenges teens with AS and related conditions encounter when faced with high school work.  Tools and techniques that can be used to conquer these challenges will be introduced and explained.  Strategies for resolving family conflicts related to school issues will also be addressed.

January 16th: Building Independence for Your Teen with AS
Speaker:  Lynne Mitchell, MSW
As your teen moves through middle and high school they not only need to learn the academics being offered but how to become more independent within the school and the community. This class will focus on ways to use the schools and the community in unique ways to build independent skills for your teen. Participants will leave this class with specific ideas that they can implement immediately.
Speaker:  Lynne Mitchell, MSW

February 6th: Helping Your Teen Make Friends
Speaker:  Erika Drezner, MSW
Many parents report that their teens have difficulty making friends and maintaining friendships.  This workshop will address the reasons our kids have difficulty with this particular set of skills, and how these difficulties are exacerbated during the teen years.  We will take parents step by step through the process, from where to meet potential friends to what to do when conflicts arise in a friendship.  We will cover the types of friendships, planning a get together with a friend, and the skills needed to socialize successfully.  Special attention will also be paid to the parents’ experience as they guide their teen.

March 6th: Behavior Management for Big People: Helping your teen with AS regulate their behavior and emotions
Speaker:  Lynne Mitchell, MSW
Although your child is a teen-ager now, in a teen-agers body with a teen-ager’s strength, many teens with AS continue to have difficulties with emotional regulation which can lead to meltdowns. One problem with this situation is that the stakes are now higher. Our children can become dangerous and destructive. This class will focus on how to understand these ongoing problems and offer some ways to address this increasingly difficult situation.

April 3rd: Self-Acceptance and Self Advocacy for Your Teen with AS
Speakers:  Lynne Mitchell, MSW and Jason Mitchell
To function in the neurotypical world, adults with AS need to know how to advocate for themselves.  To be a good advocate, one needs information—knowledge of oneself and one’s needs.  This workshop will address methods of increasing teens’ awareness of their needs and strengths and teaching them how to express their needs effectively.  Models for disclosure will be covered as well.

May 1: Social Studies:  Helping Your Teen Increase Social Competence
Speaker:  Erika Drezner, MSW
All of high school is social—from the hallways to the classrooms to the cafeteria—and teens need to learn an increasingly complicated set of unwritten rules to survive.  Teens with AS are often unaware of these social rules.  This workshop will help parents guide their teens in the process of becoming more aware and navigating the social world.   We will discuss teacher expectations, bullying and the Hidden Curriculum.