School holiday programs

Aqua Skills is a program delivered by Occupational Therapists and Speech Pathologists that supports children on the autism spectrum to work towards their individual goals, while helping them to develop social skills, functional skills, community engagement, play skills and more. It can also be a lot of fun!

Registrations of interest for this program have now closed and will open in the lead up to the next school holidays it is running, and an application button will appear here when they open.

The Autism SA Birthday Party Group is a fun, themed, skill-building therapeutic group that supports young people on the autism spectrum to learn skills and attend birthday parties with their peers.

Each ‘birthday party’ is carefully designed to encourage social interaction, and helps to build skills in a range of areas including taking turns, sharing, socialising, trying new food and more.

Registrations of interest for this program have now closed and will open in the lead up to the next school holidays it is running, and an application button will appear here when they open.

Friendship Builders is a half day school holiday program where children come together in a safe space to learn and develop social skills for the school and OSHC environment. 

Participants in ‘Friendship Builders’ complete Lego® building challenges, with all activities designed to practice friendship skills in a fun way, that will be beneficial when developing relationships with peers. 

Registrations of interest for this program will open in the lead up to the next school holidays it is running, and an application button will appear here when they open.

Develop your handwriting skills by attending Autism SA’s Handwriting Without Tears® Group!

Facilitated by Autism SA Occupational Therapists, this therapeutic group aims to build skills in the areas of:

• Pre-writing skills, including (but not limited to) posture, paper, positioning, and pencil grasp
• Letter recognition, orientation, formation, sizing and positioning
• Parent education to generalise skills outside of group, and
• Social interaction skills with same aged children

Registrations of interest for this program will open in the lead up to the next school holidays it is running, and an application button will appear here when they open.

Learn & Play Group is a group for children that is designed to develop listening, turn taking, choice making and play skills.

During the sessions, children participate in mat time and a range of games that help to build their social, language and communication skills.

This group is not currently running, however you can express your interest in joining by filling out this form and our team will be in contact when the program is running again.

Literacy Explorers is a group delivered by Autism SA Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists to support children aged 5-8 with pre-reading and pre-writing skills.

In this program, your child will be given 1:1 support and individualised therapy with up to three other children, giving them the opportunity to interact with others their age while learning new skills such as using vowels, exploring books, reading comprehension, forming pre-writing shapes and more.

Registrations of interest for this program will open in the lead up to the next school holidays, and an application button will appear here when they open.

Summer Fun is a fun skill building group to support young people aged 5-10 to attend an end of year summer themed day with others their age.

The program is facilitated by Occupational Therapists and Speech Pathologists, and incorporates activities to promote a range of social skills and communication, as well as gross motor and fine motor skills.

Registrations of interest for this program will open in the lead up to the next school holidays it is running, and an application button will appear here when they open.

The Festive SPOT is a fun, themed, skill building group designed to support young people aged 5-10 years to attend an end of year festive celebration with others their age.

Facilitated by Autism SA Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists (SPOT), ‘The Festive SPOT’ is a therapeutic school holiday program that aims to develop skills such as:

• Social interactions
• Engaging in games and turn taking
• Sharing a mealtime of snacks, tolerating new smells and trying new food

Registrations of interest for this program will open in the lead up to the next school holidays it is running, and an application button will appear here when they open.

The Friendship Space is a program where participants are welcomed to come together in a safe Friendship Space to learn and develop social skills that can help them to build friendships at school, and with others around their age.

This group is not currently running, however you can express your interest in joining by filling out this form and our team will be in contact when the program is running again.

Toileting is a daily living activity that some children on the spectrum can find challenging to learn. The Autism SA Toileting Group takes a positive approach to toilet training and supports children and their parents/carers in an environment where it is accepted that the process can be difficult and that not all attempts will be successful straight away.

The program introduces a range of strategies that can be generalised across all contexts, such as at kindy, childcare and home. It also takes into account sensory differences and the difficulties some autistic children can have in eating a balanced diet.

This group is not currently running, however you can express your interest in joining by filling out this form and our team will be in contact when the program is running again.