My son is in a Little Rock social skills class conducted by a psychologist and a mix of staff and interning therapists for the summer. In Little Rock there are two large social skills groups, one in UALR and one in UAMS’s Child Study Center.

I’ve heard rumors of a private social skills group in Little Rock but it must be pretty good since I can’t track it down. To find out about these groups requires an obsessive-compulsive parent combing web sites and cornering other parenting fanatics. Good luck digging up these groups if you’re a working Joe or goof around on the weekend.

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The first meeting of the social skills group is in the first floor of a tubby hospital building. Parking is across the street in a lot with about 400 staff parking spaces and 30 spots for patients. The parents head off to a conference room to get their homework assignments and wait while the kids are next door. I can hear the kids through the thin walls; every shriek always makes you afraid that it’s your child acting up, but at the end of an hour all the kids happily marched out with their prizes.

For next week we’ve got a homework assignment on being a good winner. It’s a social story for the parent to read and discuss with their child. The social story makes very clear comments about what to say and do: when another child wins, for instance, your child needs to say “good job” and not get angry or sad. Emotions are clearly labelled in these first-person accounts. Children with autism can have a lot of trouble in social situations without such a clear roadmap. For practice the class is meeting at a bowling alley to let the kids practice both victory and defeat.

The bowling alley meeting made me anxious even before class started. The alley was big, loud, with lots of interesting video games and machines to distract my son. Class went fairly well, with the kids practicing being good winners, taking turns, and generally being good citizens. I wish I understood what the therapists were doing so that I could have a happy child.

My son did well but fizzled out after 40 minutes, so he sat in a chair watching the rest of the class. It’s hard watching your child wear out, but I have to push him to try new social experiences. I'm still unsure about whether or not it's the spoken language demands of the class or the anxiety over making a public mistake. My younger and sociable 3-year-old was busy bowling in every available lane while the baby tries to grab a bowling ball.

Social skills therapy continues at a furious pace, with the children learning about topics such as:

• Personal Space
• Greetings
• Winning
• Sharing Toys

I don't really think an hour a week will get any child to Bill Clinton-like suavity, but the therapy group certainly gives me a great start.  The handouts are long and quite specific about what to practice with my child.

One of the most valuable parts of the kids' therapy group is the parents' hangout session.  We all sit around in unused medical conference rooms chatting about drugs, schools, and therapists.  Without any distractions it's a great source of insight into autism. I also get to practice my social skills--now if I could just tell stories as well as XXXXXX.

While I like the sessions, my son's having anxiety attacks about the classes.  He's been sitting out in the hallway 1/3 of the time.  I hope he relaxes a bit as the end of the eight sessions approaches.