Skills Development

Skills Development Training can go by many names. Sometimes it is called Living Skills, Community-Based Training, or Practical Living Skills.

Essentially, Skills Development Training is a structured, supportive approach that focuses on teaching practical, everyday skills to help individuals build independence, confidence, and success in various aspects of life.

This type of intervention targets essential competencies such as social skills, emotional regulation, executive functioning, personal care, and community navigation.

Through skills development training, individuals gain the tools and strategies they need to handle daily tasks, make decisions, interact with others, and achieve personal goals, enabling them to thrive in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities.

At Grounded Roots Family Development Center, we offer skills development training for children and adolescents ages 7 to 18 who benefit from tailored support in building essential life skills.

Our services are especially suited for individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, OCD, and other related disorders. Many of the children we work with may struggle with practical daily tasks, social interactions, or self-regulation and need structured guidance to gain confidence and independence.

Our interventions are personalized to each child’s strengths and challenges, providing a supportive environment to help them thrive both at home and within their community.

Below are some example of skills that could be targeted for skills development at our clinic:

• Shopping & Financial Literacy: Skills for budgeting, managing money, and shopping independently or with minimal assistance.

• Transportation Training: Familiarization with public transport, understanding routes, and traveling safely.

• Navigating Public Spaces: Building confidence in safely exploring community spaces like libraries, parks, grocery stores, and recreational facilities.

• Job-Related Social Skills: Practicing communication and teamwork skills that are essential for workplace settings.

• Responsibility & Accountability: Building the ability to follow through on tasks and commitments.

• Basic Work Tasks: Introduction to skills like sorting, organizing, and completing assignments independently.

• Social Interaction & Communication: Practice with conversation skills, active listening, and managing social cues in various settings.

• Conflict Resolution & Coping Skills: Teaching children to handle challenging situations calmly and effectively.

• Friendship Building: Guidance on making and maintaining friendships, including empathy, cooperation, and positive engagement.

• Household Responsibilities: Basic cooking, cleaning, and organization skills to create self-sufficiency at home.

• Time Management: Tools for planning and organizing daily activities, fostering responsibility and accountability.

• Planning & Organizing Tasks: Using visual schedules, planners, and checklists to help children stay on track.

They are pretty different, actually.

Skills Development Training and traditional Therapy both support personal growth, but differ in focus and approach.

Skills development is action-oriented, concentrating on teaching practical, everyday skills—like social interactions, self-care, and financial literacy—aimed at building independence and confidence in real-world situations.

Traditional talk therapy, however, focuses on emotional well-being, addressing underlying psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, or trauma through reflection and self-awareness.

At Grounded Roots Family Development Center, we take a personalized approach to interventions with the children and families we serve; providing flexibility in treatment approaches to best meet the child’s current needs. Primarily, our treatment approach focuses on behavioral, real-world interventions; with emotional support provided every step of the way.

Skills training sessions typically last between an hour and 1.5 hours, and cost $150/hour.

Each skills development session is highly individualized, and may involve practicing social skills, learning life skills, or rehearsing daily tasks in real-world settings.

This approach often requires extra preparation, additional resources, and sometimes even out-of-office activities to ensure children can effectively apply the skills in their everyday lives.

I would love to facilitate skills development groups! If you would like your child to be put on our wait list for a skills development group, please use the contact page to give us your information.

We will contact you when the next group starts! (After the New Year)

Groups cost $100/hour, and the entire month (4 sessions) must be paid at the time of the first session. Groups are limited to 4 participants.