104: Building Our Circle of Friends (in-person) (For 8)

DETS Course 104: Building Your Circle of Friends In Person version introduces ideas and offers practice for people with intellectual disabilities to consider and use skills for creating a circle of friends. The twelve one-hour sessions in Course 104 In Person helps group members:

• build personal power
• learn about the rights movement for disability equality and how it applies to them
• act together to contribute to the community

Session 1

Session Openers, Smile – Greet – Freeze and Puzzle Pieces

 

Description: This is your three-part formula for starting each of the 12 sessions in this course, DETS 104. Participants practice smiling, greeting, making eye contact while they encounter new people each day. Participants match their puzzle pieces with those of others to create words about friendship, then discuss.

 

Objectives

–Participants build comfort with one another as a learning group.

–Participants see the big picture, where this course is going.

–Experience using skills needed for first meeting people.

–Notice the difference between engaging others when greeting them, and not doing so.

–Participants have the chance to think a little more deeply about aspects of friendship, and what it takes to be successful at making friends.

–Participants work together to solve a puzzle.

 

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Session 2

Conversation Starters and Write a Friendship Poem

 

Description: Participants use some provided ideas to practice starting light social conversations.  Participants arrange powerful and positive words and phrases to create poems that reflect the communities they want to help build and live in.

 

Objectives

–Experience starting a simple conversation after greeting someone.

–Notice what’s involved in starting a conversation.

–To engage participants to dream of a community without negative attitudes and barriers.

–Participants practice naming the power of self-advocacy.

–Participants practice working together on a common goal.

 

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Session 3

Walk Stop Talk and Two More Questions

 

 

Description: This is your three-part formula for starting each of the 12 sessions in this course, DETS 104. Participants play musical chairs to pair up and practice the skill of asking follow-up questions to keep a light conversation going.

 

Objectives

–Lots of practice on small talk.

–Experience how small talk goes back and forth between two people, not one person dominating.

–Experience asking questions to show interest in the other person.

–Learn how to repeat back what people say as a way to keep a conversation going.

 

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Session 4

Picture What You Love and Visible/Invisible

 

Description: People silently look over a number of photos, choose one that shows something about them, what they like to do, and talk about how friends are often folks that like to do the same things we do. Participants decorate a worksheet to describe parts of them that are easily seen by others, and parts more private, then consider what that means for making friends.

 

Objectives

–Participants notice and name what activities they like.

–Participants compare their interests to those of others.

–Participants connect their interests to the idea of making friends with similar interests.

–Understand parts of yourself that are well known, and parts hidden.

–Understand that others have parts well known and parts hidden.

 

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Session 5

Rights That Help You Make Friends and More Greeting Practice

 

Description: Participants use mini-posters, based on the Supreme Court Olmstead Decision, to tell each other about rights that help people with disabilities make friends.  Revisit DETS 104 Session 1b Smile Greet Freeze for more practice.

 

Objectives

–Become familiar with some key rights of integration.

–Experience telling others about rights and how they connect to friendships.

 

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Session 6

Barriers to Making Friends

 

Description: Participants talk about the consequences if you don’t have Olmstead Rights, and create skits to show how that lack affects your friendships.

 

Objectives

–Participants make connection lack of rights to friendship difficulties.

–Participants embody their understanding by creating skits together.

 

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Session 7

Rights Help Friendships and More Small Talk

 

Description: Participants talk about which integration rights (Olmstead) are most important in their life, and create skits to show how that right supports someone trying to make friends.  Reprise DETS 104: Session 2a, Conversation starters for more practice.

 

Objectives

–Participants make between rights of integration and their own life.

–Participants embody their understanding of the power of these rights by creating skits together to show how   friendships might be supported by rights.

 

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Session 8

Make a Friendship Poster

 

Description: Participants make a “friendship poster” featuring their own photo and the right they feel strongest about.

 

Objectives

–Continue to connect the rights of integration with your own life and experience and friendships.

–Practice at expressing yourself, and showing that to others.

 

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Session 9

Try Something New and More Walk Stop Talk

 

Description: Each person choose one activity they’d like to try for the first time.  Reprise DETS 104: Session 3a for more

 

Objectives

–Build new relationships by trying something new in the community

–See yourself as evolving, able to change and grow

 

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Session 10

Your Personal Starter and More Questions

 

Description: Participants practice using conversation starters, then each develops one on a topic they care about, to practice in their daily life, at home and out in the community. Participants play UNO as a way to practice connecting with others, social chit chat, other new skills.

 

Objectives

–Give folks yet another way to practice new skills of       building friendships, connecting with others.

–Learn a simple game you can play with others in your life.

–Participants develop something they can use in the community.

–Assignment get’s people interacting with new people in their lives.

 

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Session 11

Let’s Play Games and Preview Closing Ceremony

 

Description: Participants play UNO as a way to practice connecting with others, social chit chat, other new skills. Give participants a sense of the final session, what to expect.

 

Objectives

–Help participants be successful at social connecting next session, by knowing what to expect.

–Give folks yet another way to practice new skills of building friendships, connecting with others.

–Learn a simple game you can play with others in your life.

 

 

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Session 12

Closing Ceremony

 

Description: Closing ceremony to review the new learnings and to recognize graduates with ritual and certificates.

 

Objectives

–Celebrate the completion of this 12-session course

–Raise community awareness of what we are doing.