Pathways Playgroups
Looking for a small group opportunity for your child to experience play with peers in an inclusive and supportive way? Pathways Playgroups offer just that!
All families want their children to grow to be social with others. At Pathways, we understand that many children need support when starting to interact with peers and our team of professionals is here to offer a small, inclusive group setting that allows your child to navigate peer interactions in a positive way that honours their unique abilities and needs.
What are Pathways Playgroups?
A small group of 2-3 children paired together for supported and positive peer interactions. Playgroups are facilitated by a Speech-Language Pathologist or Occupational Therapist to promote communication, regulation, and social/peer interaction from within a neurodiversity-affirming interventional approach.
Groupings of 2-3 children are made with careful consideration of each child’s unique abilities and needs; our team aims to pair children who will be successful in interacting with each other, due to similarities in abilities and interests. Once a Playgroup pairing is made, those 2-3 children will be scheduled to attend weekly 50-minute sessions with the same SLP or OT over multiple weeks.
Eligible for insurance benefits, Autism Funding program, and Jordan’s Principle funding.
Program Fee
$80 per 50-minute group session. Playgroups are typically set to run weekly over multiple weeks; the number of weeks depends on factors such as clinician availability, holiday/Centre closures, etc. Most often, Playgroups run anywhere from 6-10 weeks.
How to Apply
Playgroup registration is only open to existing clients of the Pathways Therapy Team. This means that our Pathways Playgroups are only accessible to internal applications and referrals from within our existing therapy clients. As an existing therapy client at Pathways, our team will have the best ability to understand your child’s abilities, and needs, and make recommendations to join a Playgroup when your child is ready. We care about your child’s experience with and success in our programs, and want to be sure your child is fully ready to get the most out of the program! Additionally, our team meets at the start of each Playgroup cycle to very carefully select Playgroup pairings of 2-3 children of similar developmental abilities and needs and similar interests, so as to create a grouping of children most likely to have a positive experience with each other.
All children who participate in our Playgroups start out at Pathways in either Speech-Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy. Starting with either, or both, of these services at Pathways will be a beneficial way to fully understand your child’s communication and sensory/emotional needs and the general approach our therapy and Playgroup Facilitators would use to support your child.
If you are interested in the Pathways Playgroup program, reach out to Ally our Program & Advocacy Director to discuss your child and get started with our therapy team. Click the button below or email Ally directly at ally@pathwayslearning.ca.