Making Connections Toowoomba
Certified PEERS® Facilitators
About
MCT is proud to be certified facilitators of the renowned PEERS® programs, developed by UCLA. We have been successfully running the PEERS® for Teens program for several years.
In 2025, we’re thrilled to be one of the FIRST providers in Australia to also offer PEERS® for Preschoolers, specially designed for children in Prep and Year 1!
PEERS® is a neuroaffirming, parent-assisted, evidence-based social skills intervention designed to support neurodivergent children, teens, and young adults in building meaningful friendships and navigating social interactions with confidence. While PEERS® for Teens focuses on developing key social skills for teens and young adults, PEERS® for Preschoolers helps younger children strengthen early friendship skills through structured play and parent coaching. Both programs also help caregivers learn ways to support and socially coach their young person - not only during the intervention, but in life beyond.
By expanding our PEERS® offerings, we continue our commitment to providing high-quality, neuroaffirming, research-backed support for neurodivergent youth and their families.
PEERS® for Preschool
(Prep & Year 1)
Details Below
PEERS® for Teens
(Ages 14-18)
Details Below
PEERS® for Preschool
(Prep & Year 1)
ABOUT
PEERS® for Preschool
(Prep & Year 1)
PEERS® for Prep & Grade 1 is Launching in Term 2!
Be the FIRST Australian families to benefit from this amazing program!
PEERS® is UCLA's world-renowned, evidence-based social skills program—now tailored for young children to help them develop essential friendship skills early.
For young neurodivergent children, social interactions can be confusing and overwhelming. PEERS® for Preschoolers helps to bridge the gap by providing practical, evidence-based strategies to help them form meaningful connections at school, playdates, and beyond.
Important: Your child does not need a diagnosis to be part of this program. The focus is on providing support and strategies for all young children (and their caregivers) who may benefit from help with social skills development.
What to Expect
Children participate in interactive, play-based sessions alongside peers of a similar age. Each session follows a step-by-step approach, where children learn and practice key friendship skills in a fun and supportive environment. These skills are then reinforced at home with caregiver support.
Parent involvement is essential and is recognised as gold standard practice in any child-centred interventions. While children engage in structured play, caregivers attend a separate coaching session, gaining practical strategies to help their child build friendships beyond the program. Towards the end of each session, parents rejoin their child to practice social coaching in real time, ensuring skills can be successfully applied at home, school, and in everyday interactions.
Please note: One parent or caregiver must attend each week with their child.
Topics of Instruction
Participants will about:
- Listening and following directions
- Asking and using names
- Greeting friends
- Sharing and giving turns
- Asking friends to play
- Joining ongoing games
- Keeping cool during play
- Being a good sport
- Transition to new play activities
- Using good volume
- Maintaining good body boundaries
Details
The 16-week PEERS® for Preschool program will run for eight weeks in Term Two and eight weeks in Term Three of 2025.
Day: Thursdays
Time: 1pm to 2.30pm (we start and finish promptly on time)
Note: We’ve intentionally scheduled the program during school hours to ensure your child gets the most out of it, as young children are often tired after a full day of school. Most schools are very supportive of this extra help. However, if needed, we’d be happy to chat with your child’s school to discuss the benefits of the program.
What's Included:
- Parent Information Session
- Pre-Post Program surveys and results
- 16 x 90-minute weekly structured group sessions for your child
- 16 x 90-minute caregiver support sessions
- Caregiver Handouts & Resource Folder
- Certificate upon completion of the program
- Graduation party celebration
- Summary Report after completion of the program
Is this a good fit?
So that all participants have the best opportunity to benefit from the program, children must meet certain participant criteria. These include:
✅Have social challenges
✅Prep or Grade 1
✅Within the average range for cognition and language (including can speak consistently and flexibly in sentences)
✅Not have any significant behavioural problems (e.g., aggression, running away) or significant self-care requirements (e.g. needing help with toileting)
✅Must have one parent who will attend the 16-week program with them
Research on PEERS® for Preschoolers
- Remote PEERS® for preschoolers: A pilot parent-mediated social skills intervention for young children with social challenges over telehealth (Factor et al., 2022)
- Examining Feasibility and Outcomes of the PEERS® for Preschoolers Program (Factor et al., 2022).
- An Initial Pilot Study Examining Child Social Skills, Caregiver Styles, and Family Functioning in the PEERS® for Preschoolers Program for Young Autistic Children and their Caregivers (Factor et al., 2021).
- Long‑Term Treatment Outcomes of PEERS® for Preschoolers: A Parent‑Mediated Social Skills Training Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Tripathi et al., 2021).
- PEERS® for Preschoolers preliminary outcomes and predictors of treatment response (Antezana et al., 2022)
- Parent-Assisted Social Skills Training for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: PEERS for Preschoolers (Park et al., 2022)
- Pilot Study Examining Caregiver–Child and Family Functioning in PEERS® for Preschoolers (Factor et al., 2022)
- Parent perspectives on treatment: A mixed methods analysis of PEERS® for Preschoolers (Tripathi et al., 2023)
Are the PEERS® programs 'neuroaffirming'?
Yes! The PEERS® programs are both evidence-based and neuroaffirming. They value neurodiversity, acceptance, and authenticity without viewing neurodivergent people as needing to be 'fixed', 'changed' or 'cured'. They honour the diverse ways people experience the world and respect each person’s unique perspectives, interests and communication styles. Recognising that there is no single "right" way to connect with others, PEERS® emphasises that learning and using its strategies is a personal choice, ensuring that participants can build social connections authentically without feeling pressured to mask or camouflage.
Want to know more? Email to:
-Request a complimentary 10 minute phone call to discuss the program, or
- For an information sheet with dates and details.
PEERS® for Teens
(Aged 14-18 Years)
ABOUT
PEERS® for Teens
(14-18 Years)
NEXT COHORT STARTING TERM 2 - PLACES AVAILABLE!
PEERS® for Teens is an evidence-based social skills training program designed for teenagers aged 14-18 years. Developed at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, PEERS® helps teens with social communication difficulties, such as those on the autism spectrum, with ADHD or social anxieties, build interpersonal skills that are essential for success in everyday life, and to help make and keep quality friends. However, it is important to note that while these are common diagnoses we see among participants, you/your teen teen does
not
need a formal diagnosis to access the program. The program is structured to improve peer relationships, help teens make social connections, and promote self-confidence in social settings.
Please note
PEERS® for Teens is traditionally a 14-week program, but to better accommodate busy families, we've condensed it into 10 weeks, with the option of an additional session at no extra cost. This streamlined approach makes the program more manageable by allowing families to time-block attendance to just one term. The 10-week option also makes the program more affordable, without compromising the quality of instruction.
What to Expect
PEERS® for Teens is based on "gold standard" practices for adolescent interventions, making it one of the most effective and researched programs for social skills development. Each week, teens will engage in structured lessons and role-playing activities that simulate real-life situations. Parents play an integral role in the program by attending weekly parent sessions (in a separate room to their teen). These caregiver sessions provide strategies to reinforce the skills learned in the program and support teens in navigating social challenges, not only during the intervention, but in life beyond.
Please note: One parent or caregiver must attend each week with their teen.
Topics of Instruction
Participants will about:
- Characteristics and types of friendships
- Conversation skills (include two-way conversations and enter/exiting conversations)
- Using technology appropriately
- Finding sources of friends
- Attending and hosting get-togethers
- Handling embarrassing feedback
- Dealing with conflict and difficult situations
Timing
- Days: Wednesdays
- Time: 4.30pm to 6pm
- Parent Information Session (online) - 2nd May at 7pm
- Weekly Sessions - 23rd April to 25th June
What's Included:
- Parent Information Session
- Pre-Post Program surveys and results
- 10 x 90-minute weekly structured group sessions for your child
- 10 x 90-minute caregiver support sessions
- Caregiver Handouts & Resource Folder
- Certificate upon completion of the program
- Graduation party celebration
- Summary Report after completion of the program
Is this a good fit?
So that all participants have the best opportunity to benefit from the program, teens must meet certain participant criteria. These include:
✅Aged 14-18 years.
✅Having difficulties making and/or keeping friends. Note - You do not need a diagnosis, however, we often see young people with Level 1 or 2 autism, ADHD and/or Social Anxiety.
✅Wanting to learn skills to build capacity towards making and keeping friends.
✅Be within the average range for cognition and language.
✅Be able to self-manage behaviour and emotions, especially in a group context.
✅Be willing to attend and participate in the sessions and weekly home tasks. Please speak with your teen first.
Research on PEERS® for Teens
The PEERS® programs have been extensively and rigorously researched for over two decades. This is why they are considered 'evidence-based' programs. Please follow the link below to access academic articles on the programs.
www.semel.ucla.edu/peers/research
Are the PEERS® programs 'neuroaffirming'?
Yes! The PEERS® programs are both evidence-based and neuroaffirming. They value neurodiversity, acceptance, and authenticity without viewing neurodivergent people as needing to be 'fixed', 'changed' or 'cured'. They honour the diverse ways people experience the world and respect each person’s unique perspectives, interests and communication styles. Recognising that there is no single "right" way to connect with others, PEERS® emphasises that learning and using its strategies is a personal choice, ensuring that participants can build social connections authentically without feeling pressured to mask or camouflage.
Still not sure? Email to:
-Request a complimentary 10 minute phone call to discuss the program, or
- For an information sheet with dates and details.
What MCT's Families
Have to Say
"I just want to thank you both for not just 'running' such a fabulous program, but also tell you how much I appreciate the sensitivity with which you ran it. It was just so refreshing to know that we could attend the course without worrying about the frame of mind we were in, becuase of 'life'. Many people have commented on the fact that our son seems to have 'come out of his shell'. I have no doubt this was because of PEERS for Teens."
"The PEERS for Teens program was invaluable for daughter. We both learnt skills to develop quality relationships and how to survive difficult social situations. I wish I had access to it sooner. "
"My daughter used to just sit at home all day on her computer or phone while not at school, now she is out a lot more and interacting with family and friends more easily than before. Thank you so much."
"The PEERS course has been a game changer for my son and myself. It has enabled my son to be more confident in his interactions with others and also to motivate him to join social activities outside his comfort zone of school. It has really helped me to break down interactions between my son and his peers, so that we may talk more about areas that work well for him and areas he needs more support in. We are so pleased we were a part of the PEERS for Teens program."
"Having completed the course has given me the wording to use with my teen so we are on the same page. I do not think I could have supported her as well as I have if I did not participate. Through the PEERS program we have not only gained knowledge but a common language we can use with our teen to support her with making and maintaining friendships. The 14 weeks was a commitment, but definitely worth it."
"The Making Connections Team provide a fantastic program for parents and teens. It was very informative and a pleasure to participate, for both of us. The skills my teen has learned and experienced will stay with him and be beneficial as he progresses through his life. Thank you."
