This article describes the New York University Child Study
Center Summer Program for Kids (SPK) Booster Program, a follow
up program designed to reinforce social skills learned in the
NYU Summer Program for Kids. The SPK is an intensive,
therapeutic summer experience, for children ages 7-11 diagnosed
with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and related
disorders. The SPK, which is conducted 5 days per week, 8 hours
per day, for seven weeks, focuses on skills building in the
areas of social, academic and sports behaviors. One of the
common denominators of children enrolled in the SPK is a deficit
in social functioning. In addition, the program helps parents
improve their ability to manage their children's behavior. The
SPK model is based on the empirically validated summer program
designed by William Pelham, Ph.D. However, there is no research
to date that has systematically studied the generalization of
the improved skills once the seven week program has ended.
Parents report that much of the gain