Community Requests
Ms. Ellen’s social skills programs for students are custom-designed and bring together students from across the SF Bay Area, which allows for precision matching of student instructional levels, abilities and needs. After teaching a PTA-sponsored public SFBA PEERS programs for 5 years, Ms. Ellen’s in-person social development programs are now available only to her private clients to ensure the highest levels of family commitment and program effectiveness. Students with mild-to-moderate disabilities who struggle with social isolation or bullying from all Bay Area counties are welcome. The average cost for social skills tutoring is $50-$75 (remote/in-person) per student per week. Ms. Ellen’s priority is teaching critical thinking skills that will allow students to think for themselves and build meaningful lives rooted in family and community. She strives to embody values endemic to San Francisco Bay Area culture: modeling kindness, tolerance, inclusion and open-and-affirming acceptance of others as well as an enthusiastic appreciation of diversity. Diversity is a wealth of resources and abilities that increases community success and the ability to adapt to inevitable change as history unfolds. Ms. Ellen’s social skills programs do not involve the discussion of politics, religion or sexuality (topics that can be socially divisive). Instead, she teaches practical social skills systematically via research-based curricula that Ms. Ellen differentiates for each student so that they can find, at their own pace with the support of family, their own unique balance of authenticity and conformity for optimal peer inclusion across settings. Ongoing listings below are divided into elementary, middle school and high school social skills requests followed by academic requests. All students in listings below have been screened by Ms. Ellen for safety and instructional reasons.
Price-share: Elementary Social Skills.
Price-share with other SFBA families a social skills program for upper elementary school students with autism.
Students who are interested in attending in-person social skills programs for tweens (eg: PEERS) in 2024-25 are encouraged to sign up for a long-term social thinking program to work on foundational social skills. There are two tracks, mild and moderate, and students are grouped according to their instructional levels. Moderate students can graduate to mild groups as their skills develop.
5th/6th in San Mateo County (mild HFA) are seeking other students for price-shared in-person lessons. Current challenges are social isolation.
3rd graders in San Mateo County (mild HFA) are seeking other 3rd grade students for price-shared in-person lessons. Current challenges are social isolation.
Families interested in starting a new social skills group or being considered for these groups designed for students with ASD can book an initial screening directly on my website’s Appointment page.
Price-share: Tween Social Skills #1.
Price-share with other SFBA families a Social Skills program for tweens and teens with autism:
Ongoing, in-person social group for tweens and teens who are minimally verbal — able to speak eg: with family members but not yet to speaking to peers or speaking very little to peers at their middle school or high school. This group is also open to students who use devices (who are already trained on them) to speak with peers when they are unable to speak with their voice. The goal of this group is to stretch minimally-verbal students to become more actively engaged in preparation for inclusion in larger, diverse social groups.
Families interested in starting a new social skills group or being considered for this group designed for students with ASD can book an initial screening directly on my website’s Appointment page.
Price-share: Teen Social Skills.
Price-share with one other SFBA family a social skills program for teens with autism:
See above under “tweens:” Ongoing tweens & teens social group minimally-verbal students with ASD are accepting new members.
Families interested in joining this social skills group or starting their own programs for students with ASD during 2022-23 can book an initial screening directly on my website’s appointment page.
Transition to Middle School
Price-share: 5th Grade Math Word Problems.
Families with students transitioning next year to middle school are invited to price-share an in-person math program for 5th graders. This program will be taught by Ms. Ellen and based on Common Core 5th grade GenEd math curricula. Up to 3 students can participate and share the cost of this program. The program is designed to help students with IEPs and 504s learn how to unpack overwhelming Common Core academic language and solve problems that seem impossible. The goal is to prepare students for a successful transition to middle school math and science. Book an initial screening appointment directly on the appointments page to learn more.
Families who have already completed an initial screening appointment with Ms. Ellen have the option to add requests for price-sharing of services (eg: tutoring, mindfulness, social skills training) with other families on this page.
College Prep
Price-share: Academic Writing Series for High School and College students.
Students transitioning to high school or college are invited to price-share an in-person academic writing series. These programs will be taught by Ms. Ellen who has a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Up to 3 students working on the same writing project can share the cost of a series. Two students working on different academic writing projects can price-share a series. Students will be matched based on abilities and needs. These programs are designed to help students with IEPs and 504s learn how to unpack overwhelming academic language, plan and carry out step-by-step tasks and edit their work to produce successful projects that may seem impossible at the outset. The goal is to prepare students for their successful completion of college. In addition to her education specialist teaching credential, Ms. Ellen has state authorizations to teach English Learners and students with ASD. Book an initial screening appointment directly on the appointments page to learn more.
PRICE SHARING
Price sharing reduces the cost of services via a small group format (in-person or remote). Ms. Ellen can create separate billing for each family who chooses to share payment for a social skills or tutoring series with other families. Price-sharing is billed in advance per semester and must be received in full before the first session. Maximum students per session will be determined by Ms. Ellen in partnership with each family.
Sponsor a community group or individual students.
Companies or individuals interested in donating funds to community price-sharing programs can contact mindfulyouth@gmail.com. Areas where funding is needed:
Sponsorship of event space for in-person social events.
Sponsorship of economically-challenged BIPOC individuals or groups.
Scholarships for any/all individual students or community groups.
