Education and fun: Learners from Caldwell’s Center for Autism and ABA go trick-or-treating on campus and practice social skills

Sharon Reeve, Ph.D., director of the Center,  says the activity gave the learners and the graduate students more experience on how to navigate a group outing and all of the social opportunities that come with it. 

She explained that for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), social skills are some of the most important–and sometimes difficult–skills to teach. Going on community outings like trick-or-treating means that there may be opportunities for learners to practice their social skills in a natural setting. 

It was also a good exercise for Caldwell’s graduate students, providing them a chance to practice the methods they learned in the ABA master’s or doctoral graduate programs — a real-life opportunity for them to encourage their learners to participate in the community, respond to questions and engage in conversations, explained Reeve.  

Carleana Hickey, a doctoral student in ABA and assistant director of the Center, said she was happy to see the kiddos and graduate students smiling and laughing. “It  was also awesome to watch parents see their child practice skills they worked so hard on.”  

Courtney Kane, also a doctoral student in the ABA program, said it was a wonderful opportunity for the learners. “To see the joy on our students’ faces as they walked around, interacted with members of the campus community, and got candy was a heartwarming and exciting experience for myself and the other graduate student staff members.”

Reeve was grateful to the staff in the campus offices that were warm and friendly in greeting the learners as they trick-or-treated.  “Our graduate students, kiddos and their families had an awesome time and we are super proud of all of them.”

Watch Dr. Sharon Reeve interviewed on CBS 2 New York on “ How to help kids with autism have fun trick-or-treating for Halloween”