News and Announcements

People Magazine: Joey Makes Progress

An update on Joey's progress after the article "Can Joey Make a Friend?" ran in the November 22, 2010 issue. 
People Magazine: Can Joey Make A Friend?
People magazine covers the journey of 17-year old Joey Hersholt as he learns how to make and keep friends with the help of the UCLA PEERS Program. 
Teaching autistic teens to make friends
During the first week of class, the teens' eyes were downcast, their responses were mumbled and eye contact was almost nonexistent. By Week 12, though, these same kids were talkative, responsive and engaged. That's the result of a special class designed at UCLA to help teens with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) learn to interact appropriately with their peers. ASD includes a range of pervasive developmental disorders characterized by problems with communication and socialization; it's estimated that one in 150 children born in the United States has some form of ASD.