The Secret Agent Society (SAS) Can Help Your Child to be More Calm, Confident and Successful in Social Situations The skill of reading social situations and then acting appropriately unfortunately does not come naturally for some. This is often the case for children with a diagnosis of Autism or Asperger’s (ASD) for whom the complexities of navigating social interactions cab be daunting and anxiety-provoking. This can have a huge impact on your child’s social and emotional wellbeing if they do not receive support. The good news is that these complex social skills can be taught! And the Secret Agent Society (SAS) program is an evidence-based program designed to do just that in a fun and engaging format. What is the Secret Agent Society (SAS)? SAS is an evidenced based program created by Australian clinical psychologist, Dr Renae Beaumont. SAS teaches children to become ‘social detectives’ as they are taught how to identify and then respond to different social cues and situations. Parents are taught how to help support their child to become a social detective outside of the group, in order to help teach these skills and the concept of theory of mind beyond rote learning. The SAS program is designed to teach children the skills to be able to:

• Recognise emotions in themselves and others
• Express emotions in appropriate ways
• Cope with anxiety and anger
• Talk and play with others
• Cope with change
• Build and maintain friendships
• Solve friendship problems
• Cope with mistakes and losing
• Recognise and deal with bullying and teasing.

The SAS program is a captivating program that includes an animated computer game, Helpful Thought Missile action game, Challenger board game and Secret Message Transmission Device game, that have all been designed to help children learn new social and emotional skills in a fun environment. How will SAS help my child? SAS is an engaging and evidence-based program which helps children learn how to feel happier, calmer and braver. It also teaches them how to make friends and keep them! The program includes 9 weekly sessions with your child that run for 90 minutes, plus a 3-month and 6-month follow up session. New skills are explored and reinforced each week through conversation, role play and games. Parents and schools are an integral part of the group program and receive resources and support to help young ‘secret agents’ develop and generalise new skills to the home and school environments. At the end of the program, your junior detective will graduate as a ‘secret agent’, armed with the social and emotional tools they need to continue their work in the ‘real world’. How can I find out more or register my interest? If you are If you are interested in finding out more about the SAS program for your child, you can visit our groups page or events page to book a free information session. Or alternatively, please contact us on (03) 8640 9934, or via email at contact@insideoutpsychology.com.au