Social Groups

A new social group is starting in October 2026, weekly on Thursdays. Please send your email address or phone number to receive a text or email with location and times. There’s no charge, but participants might want to have 5 or 10 dollars to buy drinks or donuts. (A great chance to learn to use a debit card…we will help!) A couple of educator moms are the facilitators. You are welcome to stay and sit nearby during the meeting. We will stay at the cafe until you pick up your participant.

A few years ago, Eden Transition’s founder and director, Lydia Schuck, wanted to find more social opportunities for her daughter, Anna.  Anna has autism, is very verbal, and is blind.  She has a lot of anxiety.  Whenever Lydia met other parents of girls who have autism and other disabilities, she found that they also wanted more social experiences for their daughters.  The first group meetings we had were with Mom D and her daughter S.  M and K joined us, as well as E and C, S and J, and A and R.  We met at a church back then, with girls in one room and moms (with sometimes a dad) in another room.  We all laughed a lot and took care of each other.  A was a college girl who came on her own and took a big sister approach toward the other girls.

In our current groups, participants join in an icebreaker and social game. We spend some time talking about a relevant topic and then have time to talk together. Girls can bring their own crafts to do, drawing, whatever, but we also have fidgets, colored pencils, and paper available, so that girls don’t have to talk a lot if they don’t want to.

Moms and Dads can stay or go, drop off or stay to talk with other parents. We have a good setup for parents to talk in a space that is just far enough to talk freely, but close enough for you to be sure your daughter is thriving at the meeting.

Over the years, we find that the group members are very kind to each other and that they form lasting friendships. Please follow the site to get announcements and helpful resources.

Eden Transition became a non-profit so that we could apply for grants for craft materials and other items. Our focus is on warm friendships, acceptance and sharing.  We don’t teach a specific social curriculum, although the girls learn how to develop friendships by doing it at our meetings.  Want to join us?   Call 517-348-4632 or email lydia@edentransition.org for more information.  Look for the place in the sidebar or at the bottom to enter your email address so you’ll never miss a blog post or activity announcement.