The energy of students flows from the hallway into the classroom as a new school day begins. The teacher welcomes the class, as students put their bodies in the group and find their seats. They think with their eyes to observe the classroom environment, looking for materials to make a smart guess about the group plan for the day. Students listen with their brains and bodies, as they share an imagination and figure out the group plan. The class discusses the expected behavior for the situation to help everyone feel comfortable learning together as a group. Flexible thinking and problem solving will, no doubt, be required throughout another day of school.

Neurodiversity should be acknowledged and celebrated. But there are some who struggle to understand and navigate within the social world, who seek and should also have access to information for developing stronger social competencies in order to meet their self-determined social goals. This article makes a clear, logical case for providing access to social emotional teaching and strategies, not to “fix” or “cure” but to provide a methodical and concrete way of seeing and understanding how the social world works. The point of this article is not to mandate social interventions but rather make the argument that all individuals, neurotypical or Neurodivergent, should have the opportunity to find strategies to meet their social goals if they so choose.

As we travel around the country, people are often interested in what we recommend as the “DOs and DON’Ts” related to Social Thinking philosophy and treatment. We start out by saying: be flexible! Be an observer, be supportive, be present! It turns out that what we teach our students and clients is sound advice for us as well.

Superflex® has become super-popular! We have enjoyed hearing from so many people around the world about their love of Superflex and the Team of UnthinkaBots and Thinkables and the positive effect the Superflex curriculum has on helping individuals become better social thinkers and social problem solvers!

Have you ever wondered how do we know what to do or say in a given situation? The Social Thinking-Social Competency Model breaks down this big, complex process into four foundational steps.

The “I Don’t Care Scale” is a visual tool codeveloped by teens. It was originally designed to help educators, therapists, and caregivers better understand the perspective of the student who routinely responds with, “I don’t care.” The scale is also a tool to acknowledge an individual’s point of view with empathy and without judgement and promote meaningful discussions.

Consider that everything we do or say, and possibly what we don’t do or say, is perceived and interpreted by others. At times the message we are communicating is considered quite risky, but it might be worth the potential benefit. To help individuals figure out the perceived or potential level of risk related to actions or statements, we developed the Social Risk Scale. It’s a simple visual tool to empower people to make their own decisions related to their social goals.

The 3 Parts of Play/Activity is a visual framework designed to teach social learners about planning, choice making, and time management—all executive functions. It also helps individuals learn that any activity involves a process, and there are steps we take from start to finish while keeping time limitations in mind. This builds essential and foundational executive functions. The nice part about this framework is that we can explain that any activity, whether individual or group based, has at least three parts, and all parts involve time prediction.

Most of us find motivation to do stuff we like or that interests us. But how do we rally our motivation to do things when we feel sad or anxious, or when tasks are complex, or take a lot of time, effort, and thought? Motivation is essential to achieving our goals—mundane or spectacular—but how to rally it is rarely, if ever, taught explicitly. This article explores evidence-informed and practice-based tips, tools & strategies to help individuals of all ages overcome such motivation when dealing with anxiety, depression, lagging social and/or organizational competencies, and negative self-talk.

Listening to our students and trusting them as experts on their own experiences can transform the educational landscape through student-led approaches to social, emotional, and academic learning (SEAL). Conversations with approximately 500 4th and 5th graders based on the simple prompt, Someday in school, I would like to_____., empowered these kids to give voice to their aspirations and perspectives on making school a more inclusive and fulfilling environment. The powerful themes of choices and relationships that emerged from this activity highlight the essential elements needed for every student to feel a sense of belonging. Truly heeding their voice serves as an important reminder of where to invest our time and energy—especially as we head back to school.

Engage your students in a low-effort, high-impact group activity that cultivates future thinking, reasoning, and flexible thinking to develop advocacy skills. When encouraging students to imagine their ideal school experience by completing the sentence, Someday in school, I would like to ___., educators create opportunities for students to imagine what they can do in the here and now to create a path for themselves that they desire for the future. Explore how this activity fosters students’ goal setting, interactions with others, and the practice of using their voice for advocacy, allowing them to feel empowered, included, heard, and engaged in their educational experience.

Explore the teachable role that everyday doors play in developing social observation skills. Doors not only define physical spaces, but they also serve as visual cues for transitioning into new situations. By encouraging our students, children, and clients to use the Do ObseRve strategy before entering a new space, they can first imagine the situation, gather information by thinking with their eyes, ears, and brain as they observe the situation, and then make smart guesses about what to expect to manage the transition and navigate social situations more effectively. Use this simple strategy in school, at home, and in the community.

Creating imaginary front doors for your favorite Halloween character can be a fun and friendly way to teach social observation, reading clues, people files, and smart guesses. From brooms and spider webs to giant googly eyes, kids will enjoy transforming a simple file folder or folded paper into a front door where goblins, witches, mummies, or any other Halloween character might live.

“I’m bored!” Those familiar (yet dreaded!) words can often punctuate the lazy days of summer we hope to be filled with fun, adventure, and new experiences. But boredom, like any other feeling, holds valuable information. Recognizing and understanding boredom is the first step toward transforming it into something more fulfilling. In this article, we explore the signs of summer boredom, particularly focusing on children and teens, and delve into strategies to combat its restlessness, ignite creativity, and empower guided decision-making.

Summer break can be a great time for kids to relax and have fun, but it can also be a time when change and lack of structure are the norm, which can be stressful for kids and parents alike. In this article, we share two executive function strategies for creating a summer break schedule that’s full of choices and gives kids some responsibility for coming up with healthy ways to entertain themselves while staying connected with the family.

As social beings, we’re wired to want to help others. That’s why it can be so baffling when our students and clients find it difficult to ask for and accept help from those who genuinely want to give it. The reasons can be many: anxiety, shame, pride, a lack of awareness that they may need assistance, or not knowing the actual social and emotional process of how to do it. We all need help from others from time to time to achieve our social, academic, and career goals. So, how do we help our children, students, and clients learn how to ask for help?

A teacher recently shared her thoughts on the end of the school year, referring to it as the time when teachers and caregivers have everything to do and students have… nothing to do. While this, of course, is an overgeneralization, many of us might be able to relate. So how do we finish up the school year with Social Thinking in an intentional, but also realistic way?

Engaging in conversations requires more than meets the eye! For us to understand and teach shared imagination and why it’s essential to conversational skills and relationship development, we must first define, understand, and observe singular imagination. It’s our ability to create feelings, thoughts, experiences, and imaginary worlds internally. While this may be a kind of personal creative superpower, individuals who solely experience singular imagination may struggle to relate to, imagine, and share others’ thoughts, feelings, and experiences—sharing an imagination—so vital to conversation and social connection.

The new normal seems to be everything but normal—which poses big challenges for students, families, and educators. This article focuses on practical ways educators and schools can continue to effectively support students and their families by serving as models of resilience during a historically challenging time. The authors outline concrete steps and strategies that can be woven into daily curricula to reduce stress, ease anxiety, cultivate productive coping mechanisms, and build a generation of resilient and well-adjusted children.

This article describes tenacity, a concept introduced in the authors’ most recent book Tenacity in Children: Nurturing the Seven Instincts for Lifetime Success. The authors identify seven dynamic instincts that exist in each child from birth and the prominent role they play in the course of a child’s development and show why it is imperative for parents, educators, mental health, and childcare professionals to strive to identify and support them in children.

Those of you who are seasoned users of The Zones of Regulation framework are very familiar with the core tenet and phrase “All the Zones are OK.” So, if we really mean that all the Zones are OK, why are we asking kids to “get back to Green”? When it comes to The Zones of Regulation, it is imperative to state, restate, and restate again that there is no “good Zone” or “bad Zone,” and that all Zones—the full rainbow spectrum of emotions—are expected in life.

Social perspective taking helps us make meaning of people as they interact or coexist together in specific contexts. It also helps us to navigate to self-regulate in the social world—a world where we are consciously aware of each other and adjust what we do and say to meet our social goals. Most of us begin learning to take perspective intuitively as infants, but those with social learning differences and/or challenges may need explicit teaching. Explore what social perspective taking looks like, why it’s important, and how to define it in clear, practical terms. Unpack social perspective taking in 5 steps and learn how to teach abstract social cognitive concepts using this concrete framework, as social learners progress in their journeys toward self-regulation.

Making friends is a desired but complex social emotional learning journey. The ability to forge new friendships and maintain older friendships provides us with an understanding of relationships and practice needed to be part of a class, work effectively as a collaborative member of a team or group, and simply feel included wherever we may be. In adulthood, this same set of concepts and skills will help us become part of a community, hold a job, and possibly nurture families of our own. The authors identify 10 factors for making and keeping friends and provide a list of practical resources.

When a student of any age exhibits a persistent pattern of disengagement (social or otherwise), shows confusion, and seems to “check out” during routine classroom instruction and activities or group activities, it may be that they are struggling to figure out how the social world works and how to work in the social world—even if they have academic strengths. This article discusses the signs that teachers should be aware of related to students who may face social learning and executive functioning differences and/or challenges. We also outline three ways to advocate and build supportive environments and teams.

Social anxiety can often prevent students from communicating, initiating, and connecting with their teachers, a powerful building block of learning. Here is a simple tool to help teachers teach their students about social anxiety and then empower students with a strategy to manage anxiety in the classroom and in face-to-face communication.

We don’t learn helplessness—it’s an innate brain default. We do learn how to create hope in our minds to avoid feeling helpless. By using language and metacognition in an internal dialogue, we can teach our social minds to push toward social emotional learning for new ways to handle ourselves in a range of situations. Aspects of the Social Thinking® Methodology provide pathways for creating and sustaining hope in our lives.

Times of stress and hardship can drive us apart—but they often can also bring us together in positive ways we never imagined. The “social distancing” now required by the COVID-19 pandemic can actually foster better real-time communication and forge stronger, supportive relationships through flexible thinking, mindfulness, and socially smart technologies. Here are five ways to overcome the spiral of negative thinking, take control of what you can control, and positively contribute to the social emotional well-being of your community, as well as your own.

Often students do not qualify for special services because a summary report states there is “no educational need” based on academic test scores and grades—even though it’s clear to everyone that these students are struggling to understand how the social and organizational world works and how to navigate within it. How do we define what it means to have educational need? Discover a strategy that uses school mission statements to define what a public education is to better understand whether students have special educational needs—and ultimately—to help prepare them for college and career readiness.

Bullying can take on many forms, and the internet presents yet another way children can torment each other. Cyberbullying can be pervasive; it can follow a child anywhere they have access to a computer or smart phone—at home, school, work, and even while out with friends and family. The good news is you can help. Learn the five signs that your child may be dealing with cyberbullying and what you can do to help.

This is Belinda’s story, a woman with significant social learning differences who works hard to understand how the social world works. However, she must constantly confront the social expectations others hold for her that often do not match her actual abilities. Through her thoughtful, surprising, and at times, heart-rending account, she teaches us why it’s critical to put our assumptions aside and deeply understand our students in order to meaningfully teach them.

So many people want and need connection but are inhibited—even prevented—by social anxiety, an unintentional unfriendly appearance, or the struggle to just initiate a conversation. Reaching out and making face-to-face connections with others is what creates a strong, caring community—which can have an immeasurable positive impact on someone’s life. All of us can play a vital role in nurturing our community; learn how you can help.© 2022 Think Social Publishing, Inc.

We help our kids learn math, science, history, and how to prepare for things like tests and fire drills—but for some reason, we don’t proactively teach them strategies to manage the anxieties that are an inevitable part of life. In this article, learn practical tips to help all students recognize and manage their anxieties.

Self-regulation and behavior control using behavior plans are two very different ideas. The term "self-regulation” has a bit of a bad reputation in that people often use it to describe a way to impose behavior control. But as the term implies, regulation in this way comes from oneself, one’s inner tools, and strategies. Conversely, behavior plans are developed outside of the individual by others and are meant to shape pro-social or eliminate unwanted behaviors. While there may be valid reasons and times to develop behavior plans, we argue that teaching concepts around social emotional learning, social emotional self-regulation, and executive functioning should not be one of those times.

It’s wonderful that so many interventionists are teaching self-regulation strategies and flexible thinking using Superflex and the cast of UnthinkaBots (formally called Unthinkables) and Thinkables! But the way we use our words to call attention to a student’s behaviors can make the difference between supportive versus punitive teaching. Here are four ways we often see teaching go awry—and helpful tips for what to do instead.

As digital devices become ever more pervasive in our world, face-to-face interactions are decreasing while social anxiety and depression are increasing. Discover fresh concepts and activities from the Social Thinking Methodology to help everyone look up from their phones and participate in face-to-face interaction.

For many, living independently and flexibly responding to daily demands doesn’t just happen without support. We’ve developed a visual strategy based framework called the 10 Levels to Living Independently to help kids and young adults practice 10 essential independence skills before they venture out on their own.

In this article, a 49-year-old man with Asperger’s shares his insights about being on the spectrum and handling the ins and outs of dating.

Add-a-Thought is a strategy to practice conversational language by making comments about our own lives that connect to other participants’ life experiences and vice versa. Learn how you can use the visual tool to teach skills such as perspective taking, sharing an imagination, conversational timing, and more

Leah Kuypers, the creator and author of The Zones of Regulation reminds us that The Zones should never be used as a behavioral or compliance model. It is designed and intended to offer positive and proactive instruction that helps people gain an understanding of their feelings and find adaptive tools and strategies for communication, coping, and wellness. She offers six points for guiding best practice when implementing and teaching The Zones of Regulation.

Helping individuals build social competencies is very different from teaching specific social skills to use in specific situations (e.g., sharing toys at home or asking questions during an outing). In fact, teaching the thinking process underlying “why” we use social skills is a way to help individuals carry this understanding with them from place to place, often referred to as generalization. The following article outlines our experiences engaging learners in the social learning process that naturally fosters “generalization” across people, time, and space.

Teachers frequently ask: “How can I talk to parents about my observations of their child’s social learning differences or challenges?” Michelle Garcia Winner provides nine tips to help professionals and parents engage with each other about social issues in an open, positive, and collaborative way.

Social Thinking Vocabulary terms describing behavior as “expected” or “unexpected” are popular as they help students develop self-awareness and look for the “hidden social rules” in a situation. This article offers tips and questions to reflect on your instruction to determine if your use of the terms “expected and unexpected” is a catalyst for powerful teaching, or just an attempt to redirect behavior.

Dans mon livre précédent, Inside Out : What Makes the Person with Social Cognitive Deficits Tick ? (2000), j’ai présenté un cadre de référence à partir duquel les enseignants et les éducateurs peuvent mieux identifier les déficits de ces élèves.

Nuestros amigos son las personas que nos hacen sentir bien con nosotros mismos. A pesar de que ésta es una simple verdad, crear esas amistades es un proceso complejo, especialmente para individuos con Trastrono del Espectro Autista (TEA), con sus enormes dificultades de aprendizaje social.

Many kids say, "I don't care" or "I don't want friends" or "I don't like people." I don't care is a heavy topic to cover in a blog, but here is my shot at it! Here is my spin on this. Our kids struggle to do something that appears so easy and seamless to everyone else. Those who are "higher functioning" begin to notice that they are not fitting in, but they don't know how to make it right.

The ILAUGH Model of Social Thinking is a core (and critical) framework created and developed to help professionals and parents understand and think about how those with social learning differences, difficulties, and disabilities approach the social world.

It’s our understanding that cognition comes from our neurology and our neurology is parked in our brain. So technically if something is non-cognitive, its origin is non-neural or non-brain based. You see our confusion here. The research suggests that what we do socially are a by-product of many other processes: perspective taking/theory of mind, conceptual processing, executive functioning, social attention, auditory processing, interpretation of nonverbal cues, situational cues, etc. These, of course, are also dependent on the situation (context), and the people (cultural and social-emotional factors). Social situations require us to continually consider these social elements within each moment of interaction. Is all of that mental work non-cognitive?

To better understand and support social learners, it’s important to understand their social learning system based on their social learning characteristics (e.g., strengths, needs, and/or struggles). The Social Thinking– Social Communication/Characteristics Summary (ST-SCS) is a dynamic descriptive tool (not diagnostic!) to help interventionists better understand the learning nuances of the clients and students with whom they live, work, and teach. Based on 30+ years of clinical observations, dynamic assessments, and family input, this tool defines six distinct social learning systems, including strengths of the learner, type of teaching & supports that best fit the learning system, and prognosis.

Learning evolves and brains are diverse in how they learn. The brain’s capacity to acquire new knowledge helps determine how and what we intuitively learn. Some learning happens as a matter of cognitive, social, and emotional development, i.e., from the “inside out,” while other learning happens “from the outside in.” Social learning helps us bond with our caregivers early in life then paves the way for language development, more advanced relations, and an understanding of abstract social concepts that grows through experience and maturity.

Social anxiety prevents many people from initiating face-to-face social connections with others, which can make them feel isolated and lonely. Explore why face-to-face interaction is vital to our personal well-being and discover some simple, authentic ways to empower those who struggle with initiating connection and loneliness to feel included and valued within their communities.

We learn so much from our clients—and we want to share it with you. In this free “Aha! Teaching Moments” video, Social Thinking founder Michelle Garcia Winner shares what she learned when helping a client with social anxiety make progress towards his social goal—to talk more in class. They collectively discovered other factors that probable made the social anxiety more profound.

It's no secret that our students with social learning differences (ADHD, NVLD, social pragmatic challenges, autism Levels 1 and 2, etc.) may struggle through various aspects of their education. Whether due to difficulties establishing peer-based social relationships, completing academic assignments or both, many kids have not had it easy. We all have to think out of the box to develop lessons/opportunities for learning explicitly what neurotypically developing students learn implicitly (e.g., social thinking, executive function skills, inferencing, and synthesizing information, etc.).

The following is a list of questions to explore when students are in middle-high school to help consider realistic options post-graduation. Rarely have the students whom I've observed "pulled it together" in their junior/senior years of high school, given the tremendous increasing pressures they feel as they realize they will be graduating. While we need to include the student in transition discussions, we also have to realize that many cannot imagine something they have not experienced.

In this third part of the transition to adulthood series, take a minute to read about the perspective of a parent while helping her son transition into adulthood. This mother’s perspective, as told through an extensive letter, shows just how complicated this process can be, even for those with lots of resources and supports.

Even though scientists tell us the brain physically stops growing by our mid-20s, has your brain stopped learning? We continue to learn throughout our lifetime and our social learning is no exception. We find that adult clients can be strong social leaders. They have more social awareness and socially-based experiences, and they do well discussing and applying social concepts in real world settings. They are also less likely to blame their challenges on a peer, teacher, or a parent.

Have you ever been talking to another person and you suddenly realize you're talking too much about something really interesting to you - but something that may not be all that interesting to him? I think the majority of us have had, and continue to have, these experiences from time to time. Once we realize what's happening, we try to shift and pull our attention away from the "me-focused" discussion to ask questions to our communicative partner or follow the lead to discuss a topic interesting to her. Without realizing it, we understand the idea that being with others is a sort of social see-saw where we try to maintain a balance between attending to others' interests and needs while also getting a chance to share information about ourselves or our interests.

At just about every conference, people ask for ways to describe what we mean by Social Thinking in a few words or a short paragraph. “Sound bites—that’s what they need,” I think to myself. “Easy-to-remember phrases that capture the essence of what we’re trying to do with the curricula and materials we create for our public.” I hope you find a few bits of information to clarify what we mean by the term, Social Thinking.

Every April, during National Autism Awareness Month, we pause to think back on the pivotal role students and clients have played in our lives and work. For professionals like us, who seek to develop helpful tools to unpack how the social world works as the first step in the ongoing journey of navigating and regulating in that world, we rely on the perspective and input of those we learn with and teach. Autistic, as well as other neurodivergent individuals, have been helping shape the Social Thinking Methodology and our own personal learning journeys for over two decades.

A couple of years ago I received a phone call from Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and best-selling author. Intrigued and curious about why he was reaching out to me, I listened while Ron explained that he and his wife, Cornelia, had just begun learning about the Social Thinking® Methodology to help their 23-year-old son, Owen. Ron passionately described how Owen was born with strong early relationship skills which almost vanished overnight as a toddler. By preschool and early elementary school years, Owen was very limited in his language, social communication, and many academic learning skills.

Historically, there has been a tendency to teach social behavior by setting behavioral expectations and then simply telling students what to do or telling them when we are disappointed by their behavior. To this end, professionals and parents, upon noticing a student doing what they might perceive as an “undesired” behavior, will tell the student, “That’s inappropriate.” Rarely do you hear teachers and parents telling students their behaviors are “appropriate.” When we interpret the meaning behind the use of the phrase “That’s inappropriate,” we usually find it implies the person is disappointed, if not upset with the behavior. Therefore, it is used to scold and redirect rather than to teach.

Social thinking is what we do when we share space with others and when sending an email, sitting in a classroom, lining up at the grocery store, reading a work of fiction, watching a funny video clip, participating in a business meeting, driving in traffic, and a host of other daily activities that involve our social interpretation and related reactions. The Social Thinking Methodology provides teaching and support frameworks and strategies that encourage individuals to focus their social attention, interpret the social context, and socially problem solve to figure out how to respond to this social information, with the overall goal of helping them make gains toward their social goals.

Early on in childhood development, most individuals learn to coordinate their own body and mind, as well as interpret the words and actions of others to participate with increasing sophistication in the act of communication. It just comes to us. Yet these same skills may not develop intuitively for those with social thinking needs.

Our daily lives are made up of an endless stream of thoughts, decisions, actions and reactions to the people and environment in which we live. The internal and external actions fit together, sometimes seamlessly sometimes not; largely dependent upon a set of invisible yet highly important skills we call Executive Functioning (EF). These skills, which involve planning, organizing, sequencing, prioritizing, shifting attention, and time management can be well-developed in some people (think traffic controllers, wedding planners, business CEOs, etc.) and less developed in others.

Working with thirteen-year-olds can be tricky, especially when resistant (we would say self-protective) to our supportive attempts. This Aha teaching moment shows how the “Pyramid of Dislike” thinksheet was developed based on one student’s reported desire to be “the most hated kid in school.”

If you think about it, written expression requires motor planning, social thinking, organizational skills, spelling, grammar, and punctuation to all dance together simultaneously. If any one of these factors gets left out or is missed, the result is a poor writing sample. We also know from the literature that some kids have an associated struggle to multi-task or use effective executive function skills.

Some students have significant anxiety that can get in the way of them accessing their solid social knowledge. We have found that helping students learn about their own anxiety can also help them recognize and practice their social competencies. A few years ago I developed a tool, alongside and with a group of students, to help them talk about the complexity of their social anxieties and how it can impact their social world. We collectively named the tool, The Spirals or The Spirals of Anxiety. This article will show the tool and explain our group journey.

When we work with students with social learning differences and/or challenges on their social thinking and related social skills, we’re asking them to talk about and work on something their brains don’t make easy for them, which can be difficult and anxiety provoking at times. See how to use the visual ideas of brain smarts, brain wires, and social smarts to make these concepts more concrete and create a more productive conversation.

As a speech-language pathologist and a technology expert, I get excited when I find a program, curriculum, or teaching tool that brings about tangible, positive growth in children. When I find two that work seamlessly together to make learning even more powerful… that’s something I want to tell everyone about!

Studies continue to demonstrate the benefits of starting education early, and that education is the best way to close the gap for disadvantaged students. It’s also the best way to provide supported collaborative learning and play experiences for children with social cognitive learning differences and/or challenges.

Kids come to the classroom with differing abilities. Those who are more "me-based" or adult- based players are not as likely to naturally figure out the dynamics of a playground or a classroom, while those with stronger "we-based" play skills tend to be more fluid in their ability to attend and learn in larger groups. Learn about our Interactive Play Scale and how you can use our tools to help the children you work with improve their social understanding through play.

Here's the bottom line: The general public expects adults who do not manifest obvious social skills problems to use good social skills at work and in the community.

A man with social-cognitive learning differences (in this case challenges)—who is also a speech-language pathologist—shares the impact learning about and applying the Social Thinking Methodology has had in both his professional and personal lives.

Bullies only do what bystanders allow. Bullying is a useless and harmful human behavior that occurs at all age levels, in all countries, to all levels of income with some very clear challenges for parents, teachers, schools, and policymakers. Simply put, bullying is publically and repeatedly targeting someone or a group with shame-causing messages sent directly or online.

It's important to teach individuals with social learning challenges how communication involves more than an exchange of words—our bodies play an essential role in face to face interactions. Here are tips for how to teach about and incorporate movement into your lessons!

Thought bubbles and speech bubbles have endless uses, especially when discussing how what we do and say impacts one another in the moment. Many individuals with social learning differences and/or challenges report difficulties tracking conversations or discussions in real time. The reality is that conversations are not concrete; the words are spoken, and then poof, they’re gone! These same individuals also report needing help thinking about what others around them are thinking and feeling.

While it is crucial to address a child's weaknesses, I discovered that to place too much emphasis on analyzing and fixing deficits limits our ability to assist children with special needs to lead more satisfying, resilient lives. It is for this reason that more than 30 years ago I introduced the metaphor "islands of competence" to capture the strength-based approach I had adopted.

Psychologist Abra Garfield (2015) explains, “mindfulness techniques stem from Buddhist practice of meditation originating about 2500 years ago. Mindfulness meditation was used widely for spiritual and intellectual development, to strengthen concentration, unlock human potential and reach a state of inner peace.”

Expected and unexpected behaviors. These two words, made popular by Michelle Garcia Winner and the Social Thinking team as part of their larger Social Thinking Methodology, changed the way I thought about—and taught—social communication and thinking. Once your students could use these words and knew the difference between them, you thought that was all they needed, didn’t you? So did I. Until it didn't work. That was unexpected.

Over the years, I have been inspired by the writings of professionals who describe learning abilities, differences, and challenges within a framework of “multiple intelligences” (see Howard Gardner). Essentially this means that each of us have different types of intelligences and we each have our strengths, differences, and relative challenges with regard to our own brain’s design. This is the case for Neurotypicals and Neurodivergents.

Disney Pixar’s Inside Out gave creative attention to the feelings inside all of us. However, Riley, the protagonist, did a poor job of communicating and regulating her feelings – which led to trouble. To learn from Riley’s mistakes, here are five lessons for teaching kids to identify, communicate, and regulate their feelings.

A speech-language pathologist’s neurotypically-developing baby girl grew into an aggressive three-year seemingly without warning signs or signals. Her mom tried every parenting strategy, but the behavior remained out of control. She decided to try using some of the Social Thinking Vocabulary to help her daughter understand thoughts and feelings and the group plan—and, in this case, it made all the difference.

Featured in the ASHA Leader! Many students do not qualify for social treatment services given their academic and testing strengths, but they are at the greatest risk for social, emotional, and academic problems. By focusing treatment on improving social competencies rather than social skills, we are able to make gains in reading, writing, speaking, listening, organizational skills, motivation and social self-awareness as they relate to critical thinking and social problem-solving.

Anyone who has tried to find them knows that resources and services for adults with developmental and learning disorders are hard to find and then difficult to access. And anyone who has worked with or lives with someone with these challenges knows that there can be times when our loved one becomes discouraged, depressed, enraged, irrational, and possibly acutely at risk for harming him/herself or others.

Life is improv. We make it up as we go along—responding and reacting to the words and actions of others. Yes, there are times when life may feel more scripted as we go through the same experiences again and again, but if you really stop and think about it, each interaction has a tone and feel all its own.

I didn't know what to do with Jake. A friendly but lonely high school freshman, Jake desperately needed a social group— an opportunity to develop cognitive flexibility and learn strategies to manage the anger that was blocking him out of friendships.

In this third and final part of my series on “Treatment Options and Parent Choice”, I will consider ways that professionals serving Autistic children and their families can adopt practices to move closer to the goal of becoming family-centered. I will begin by considering the essential elements of family-centered practice, the ultimate goal of which is that of empowering families with the knowledge and skills to make the best choices for their children and for the family unit, as a whole. When parents feel empowered, they feel more in control. In addition, parents also become more invested when they are respected as active collaborators in treatment and educational planning.

As noted in part one of this three-part series, educational and treatment approaches for Autistic children tend to be limited with respect to family-centered practice, and there is a dire need to move practice in this direction. In this discussion, we will consider a very popular and influential category of treatment approaches—applied behavior analysis— given that it is illustrative of an intervention technique that is often promoted in a manner that violates principles of family-centered philosophy and practice.

Originally Published by Autism Spectrum Quarterly - Winter 2008

Choices about educational and treatment approaches may be among the most important, yet anxiety-arousing decisions made by parents of Autistic children. A few decades ago, the limited amount of information and number of choices available for supporting children with autism were sources of great frustration for parents. Today, the myriad educational and treatment approaches, and claims of success associated with some of them—most often made by those most invested in those approaches—are sources of overwhelming confusion for many parents.

Navigating life with Asperger's, I often reflect on missed opportunities due to social struggles. But with perseverance and support, I embarked on a transformative journey. Introduced to the Social Thinking® Methodology by my wife and son's therapist, I began unraveling the complexities of social interactions. Each step forward brings newfound understanding and growth, enriching both my relationships and self-awareness.

A relationship, especially an intimate relationship, poses a lot of challenges for autistic people or other social cognitive challenges. Or, as a young autistic once told us: “Relationships are 1000 times more difficult than math!” Contrary to math, a relationship is built around an infinite number of unwritten rules and laws. And unwritten rule number one is: there are no fixed rules in a relationship. And that’s because a relationship is the result of the bonding of two unique people. It takes two to tango, but we all tango our own, unique way. So, every relationship is unique.

El siguiente artículo ha sido traducido con la intención de captar el significado original deseado. Al leerlo, por favor tenga en cuenta que en la traducción muchas veces es difícil captar la sutileza del significado deseado. Sin embargo, esperamos que la mayoría de los conceptos sean fieles al original.

A l'aube du développement de l'enfance, la plupart des individus apprend à coordonner leur propre corps et esprit, ainsi que d'interpréter les paroles et les actions des autres afin de pouvoir participer dans l'acte de communiquer de façon de plus en plus sophistiquée.

All'inizio dello sviluppo infantile, la maggior parte di noi impara a coordinare il proprio corpo e la propria mente; allo stesso tempo impariamo ad interpretare le parole e le azioni degli altri, partecipando in maniera sempre piu' sofisticata all'atto della comunicazione.

A maior parte dos indivíduos aprende, desde muito cedo na infância, a coordenar o seu próprio corpo e mente e a interpretar as palavras e acções das outras pessoas, de forma a participar no acto da comunicação, com uma sofisticação crescente. Este percurso acontece de uma forma natural. No entanto, nos alunos que apresentam dificuldades na aprendizagem do social, estas competências não se desenvolvem intuitivamente, fazendo com que a comunicação tenha que ser aprendida.

No hay mayor cumplido que prestar nuestra atención a otra persona (cuando es deseada, por supuesto). Ya sea que el enfoque sea breve, sostenido o no dividido, anhelamos el reconocimiento de los demás. La otra cara es lo que podríamos llamar el "anti-cumplido" de un enfoque a medias y dividido entre las pantallas de tecnología y el enfoque cara a cara. Esta atención incompleta e interrumpida transmite un mensaje fuerte: estoy interesado en usted-o algo así… O tal vez no tanto.

Nuestra vida diaria está compuesta por un torrente interminable de pensamientos, decisiones, acciones y reacciones a las personas y al medio en el cual vivimos. Las acciones internas y externas a veces encajan sin problemas, y otras veces no, dependiendo principalmente de un conjunto invisible de herramientas muy importantes que llamamos Funciones Ejecutivas (FE).

When a speech-language pathologist had a new baby, her typically-developing three-year-old daughter grew aggressive. The mom tried every parenting strategy she knew but the behavior remained out of control. Then, she began using Social Thinking Vocabulary to help her daughter understand thoughts and feelings and the group plan—and it made all the difference.

Michelle Garcia Winner har utarbetat ILAUGH som en ram för den sociala kognitionen för att förklara de många olika tankemässiga förmågor som krävs för att lyckas i socialt samspel och i problemlösning. Var och en av de delar av den sociala kognitionen som ILAUGH står för påverkar inte bara förmågan att få och behålla vänner utan också förmågan att bearbeta komplex information i klassrummet och på arbetsplatsen. ILAUGH modellen är evidensbaserad genom att varje aspekt av den är ett eget forskningsområde och har definierats som en karaktäristisk svårighet för personer som har problem med det sociala samspelet. Här följer en kort sammanfattning av vad ILAUGH står för:

El propósito de este documento es aclarar si tienen validez las afirmaciones frecuentes respecto del Análisis del comportamiento aplicado (ABA) vs. otros tratamientos y abordajes educativos para niños con trastornos del espectro autista (TEA).

Aparentemente dentro de la comunidad de autismo, los ojos son claves. Consulta 10 Programas Individualizados de Educación diferentes y probablemente encontrarás objetivos involucrando el contacto visual en cada uno.

En artículos anteriores hemos explorado el significado general en que se basan los 4 Pasos de la Comunicación y hemos aprendido que la comunicación no es un único acto, sino una sinfonía de pensamientos y acciones relacionadas, sincronizadas en el tiempo.

La última vez discutimos el primero de los 4 pasos de la comunicación: Pensando en la persona con la que nos estamos comunicando. En esta columna vamos a explorar estrategias concretas relacionadas con este paso.

La impulsividad esta obviamente atada a la auto-regulación (sensorial y emocional). Muchos de los conceptos del pensamiento social se refieren a los tratamientos que alientan al estudiante impulsivo a expandir la auto-conciencia que tiene de su cuerpo y su estado emocional.

Notre travail en tant que parent et éducateur est d’enseigner aux personnes autistes des éléments qui élargissent leur connaissance d’informations sociales AVANT d’enseigner les habiletés pour interagir avec les autres.

No último artigo discutimos o primeiro dos Quatro Passos da Comunicação: Pensar acerca da pessoa com quem estamos a comunicar. Agora vamos explorar estratégias concretas relacionadas com esse passo.

Usually, when we are interacting with other people, our ability to understand if a behavior is or isn't appropriate is something intuitive; we can recognize and understand other people's emotions and desires effortlessly. But that's not always the case.

A classic example of a person with a social learning challenge is Jason. He is in 4th grade, has excellent language skills, and amazing abilities to learn information about his topics interest (i.e., history, math). He enjoys learning factual information and excels in fact-based academic tasks. However, he struggles to focus his attention in a mainstream classroom, participate as part of a group, explain his ideas to others in writing, filter unwanted opinions, and make friends. Learning facts is easy for Jason, but editing papers, organizing materials, and adapting to another's opinion is not. He prefers talking to adults rather than peers because adults tend to want to discuss his areas of interest.

Nos amis sont ceux qui nous mettent à l'aise avec nous-mêmes. Bien que ce soit une vérité simple, les démarches qui créent ces amitiés sont complexes, surtout pour ceux qui sont sur le spectre autiste (TSA) avec leurs défis d'apprentissages sociaux généralisés.

Os amigos são aquelas pessoas que nos fazem sentir bem acerca de nós próprios. Ainda que isto seja uma verdade simples, fazer amizades é um processo complexo, principalmente para indivíduos com Síndrome de Asperger, para os quais a aprendizagem social é um verdadeiro desafio.

Diez a quince años atrás los que trabajamos en el campo de los trastornos del espectro autista (TEA) recién estábamos comenzando a aprender lo que eran las habilidades sociales. Era nuevo para nosotros: el hecho de que los niños con TEA no aprendían observando a otros, no entendían que diferentes personas tienen reacciones diferentes...

Caleb es un joven “brillante” de 23 años con síndrome de Asperger, quien tiene un don para las matemáticas. Hace poco él realizó una evaluación del pensamiento social en nuestra clínica.

Gli amici sono quelle persone che ci fanno sentire bene con noi stessi. Pur essendo questa una semplice verita’, creare delle amicizie e’ un processo complicato, specialmente per gli individui autistici o con disturbivi pervasivi dell’apprendimento sociale.

Doug tiene dificultades para jugar durante el recreo. Deambula por el patio hablando solo, y no es invitado por sus pares a jugar. El es claramente “diferente” de los otros ya que no ha desarrollado intuitivamente las habilidades para jugar, ni siquiera ahora que tiene una maestra especial trabajando con él.

Come abbiamo scoperto nell'ultimo articolo, la comunicazione e' un processo dinamico che cambia nei diversi momenti. Diventare dei conversatori di successo va ben oltre l'apprendimento delle parole o azioni sociali appropriate: significa essere in grado di pensare in modo sociale quando queste situazioni sorgono.

Come abbiamo scoperto nell'ultimo articolo, la comunicazione e' un processo dinamico che cambia nei diversi momenti. Diventare dei conversatori di successo va ben oltre l'apprendimento delle parole o azioni sociali appropriate: significa essere in grado di pensare in modo sociale quando queste situazioni sorgono.

Espertezas Sociais: O tipo de “espertezas do nosso cérebro que usamos quando estamos com outras pessoas. As espertezas sociais ajudam os cérebros a perceber que as outras pessoas têm pensamentos sobre nós e que nós temos pensamentos sobre elas. Usamos as espertezas sociais na escola, em casa e EM TODO O LADO!

Las reglas ocultas o escondidas y los comportamientos esperados e inesperados son conceptos básicos del vocabulario del método Social Thinking y con frecuencia me hacen preguntas relacionadas con la enseñanza de estos conceptos.

Nos artigos anteriores, explorámos de forma global o significado dos 4 Passos da Comunicação e aprendemos que a comunicação não é um acto isolado, mas sim uma sinfonia de pensamentos e acções relacionadas e sincronizadas no tempo.

Le mois dernier nous avons vu que la communication s’agit d’un processus dynamique qui change de moment en moment. Réussir à être un partenaire social va au-delà de l’apprentissage du verbiage ou des gestes appropriés; ceci se traduit en établissant une fondation de ‘penser socialement’ d’où surgissent ces actions sociales.

En artículos previos exploramos el rol vital que tiene el pensar acerca de las personas con las cuales nos estamos comunicando para lograr interacciones exitosas. Cómo nos relacionamos con las personas está basado en lo que sabemos acerca de ellos: de nuestros recuerdos previos (nuestros “archivos de personas”) y de pistas de la situación actual. También exploramos la idea de que “pensamos con nuestros ojos” para evaluar una situación social.

Il y a entre 10 et 15 ans, les spécialistes en troubles autistes commençaient tout juste à comprendre l'idée des capacités sociales. C'était nouveau de considérer le faite que les enfants nés avec des Troubles du Spectre Autistique (TSA) n'apprenaient rien sur le plan social en observant leur entourage...

Mientras que la mayoría de nosotros nos relacionamos socialmente de manera intuitiva, muchos pacientes con problemas de aprendizaje social, que tienen un lenguaje y nivel cognitivo bueno o excelente, (Ej, Autismo de alto funcionamiento, Trastornos del espectro autista- no especificado, síndrome de asperger, y/o déficit de atención) tienen poca habilidad para pensar en cómo pensamos socialmente.

Como descobrimos no artigo do último mês, a comunicação é um processo dinâmico que muda a cada momento. Tornar-se num parceiro social bem sucedido estende-se muito para além de aprender as palavras ou acções socialmente adequadas, significa ter um bom pensamento social que permita reconhecer de onde vêm estas vêm.

Há cerca de dez, quinze anos atrás, aqueles que de nós trabalhavam na área do Espectro do Autismo, começaram a abraçar as competências sociais. Era uma novidade para nós o facto das crianças com Síndrome de Asperger não aprenderem através da observação dos outros, não compreenderem que pessoas diferentes têm reacções diferentes àquilo que as rodeia...

Récemment nous avons discuté la première démarche de la Communication: Penser à la personne avec qui nous communiquons. Dans cet article nous explorerons des stratégies concrètes liées à cette démarche.

Fino a pochi anni fa, quelli di noi che lavoravano nella sfera dell’autismo, iniziavano appena a prendere in considerazione le abilita’ sociali. Il fatto che dei bambini nello spettro dell’autismo (ASD) non imparassero guardando gli altri, non comprendessero che diverse persone hanno reazioni differenti al mondo che li circonda...