Lunch Bunch
Lunch Bunch is a forum for practicing and improving social language and age-appropriate interpersonal skills. The goal is to offer a quieter, more controlled environment in which to eat and converse so that students practice social skills in a more natural setting. Initiating a conversation, maintaining a reciprocal conversation, practicing active listening, and demonstrating appropriate play skills and self control during a game are essential elements. At its inception, Lunch Bunch was designed to service students with Autistic Spectrum Disorders by orchestrating time, place, number of diners, conversation topics and games during a school lunch period. In Johnson School, this population participated in a direct instruction Social Skills program and the Lunch Bunch concept grew from a desire to facilitate skill transfer. Small groups of students (usually two to three) from general education grade level classes were invited to dine in a classroom with peers with greater social language needs (two to three special needs students) on a rotating basis. Letters were sent to parents outlining the conversation and friendship goals and students wishing to participate returned a permission slip. A teacher set up a schedule, provided snacks and dessert to be shared by the group, and planned a quick game that could be played (usually in teams) after eating.  During the meal, the adult monitored conversation and the staff welcomed the focus of mealtime conversation in a setting different from a crowded, noisy cafeteria. Focused staff development enabled participating staff members to carry out the program. Each year, the staff expanded the number of Lunch Bunch groups that met. After five years, the program now provides social opportunities at every grade level for approximately 20 special education students and 75 regular education students. Five teachers and a Speech Therapist facilitate groups, meeting for lunch with students two to five times per week. General education students have the opportunity to demonstrate kindness, practice social thinking, and give the gifts of friendship to peers and students in lunch bunch have indicated that peers in the regular education room are “their friends.”