Dana Roberts

Beacon Educational and Family Support Services is an organization aimed at assisting teens that are having difficulties in making and keeping friends. Beacon offers educational services based on UCLA Medical Center’s Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS). PEERS is a 14-week evidence-based social skills educational process for high-functioning and motivated teens in middle and high school who are interested in learning ways to help them make and keep friends. During each group session teens are taught important social skills and are given the opportunity to practice these skills in session during socialization activities. Parents attend separate sessions at the same time and are taught how to assist their teens in making and keeping friends by helping to expand their teen's social network and providing feedback through coaching activities during weekly socialization homework assignments. The program is most appropriate for teens with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Asperger’s Disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD’s) or other social problems.