Free Articles & Strategies
Free Articles & Strategies
100+ free articles devoted to building stronger social awareness
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Feeling Safer Behind Screens: Why Real-Life Interaction Feels Harder
Real-life social interaction can feel more difficult than digital communication, but practical strategies and Social Thinking Vocabulary can help build comfort and confidence in everyday, in-person interactions.
Respecting Neurodiversity by Helping Social Learners Meet Their Personal Goals
Neurodiversity should be acknowledged and celebrated, while individuals who want support in understanding and navigating the social world should have access to strategies for building social competence and reaching their self-determined social goals. Rather than aiming to “fix” or “cure,” social-emotional teaching provides a concrete way to understand how the social world works and offers all individuals the opportunity to develop social strategies if they choose.
DOs and DON'Ts for Teaching with Social Thinking Materials
While traveling, people inquire about the "DOs and DON'Ts" of Social Thinking. The response emphasizes flexibility, observation, support, and presence. It turns out that the advice given to students and clients applies to everyone.
10 DOs and DON'Ts for Teaching Superflex
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!
The Social Thinking–Social Competency Model (ST-SCM)
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.
Free Article
Screens Are Now the Guardrails of Childhood Social Experiences
Screens are part of our everyday world, but phones and tablets have quietly shrunk much of our social experience into small, focused rectangles, pulling our attention away from external social cues; learning to “think with their eyes” helps students make sense of real-world situations.
Teaching Social Thinking and Real-World Communication
Learn how online learning and products from the Social Thinking® Methodology help to make real world communication less confusing for kids (and adults!). We break down the social world into teachable parts, like understanding emotions, joining group activities, and noticing the “hidden rules” that guide everyday interactions. It’s all about helping students build the confidence and social tools they need to connect with others in meaningful, authentic ways.
Step Into My Sessions: Backed by Science: Tabletop Games as Powerful Therapy Tools
Over the past decade, research has continued to highlight the therapeutic potential of tabletop games for building language, social, and cognitive skills. Together, these findings underscore what many of us see in our sessions: tabletop games offer a research-backed, evidence-based way to target language and social learning while keeping students engaged and motivated.
Brain Hacks: 12 Tips to Activate Your Mental Superpower
Ever wish you had a superpower to handle stress, stay organized, and crush your goals? Here are 12 practical tips to help you strengthen your executive functioning, activate your mental superpower, and feel more in control of your day.
Free Article
Thinking Out Loud: Sports/Social Casting
Like a sportscaster for daily life, Social Casting (or Thinking Out Loud) helps kids decode social environments, promoting awareness and empathy through guided observation while building the student’s competencies in observing, interpreting, and anticipating social outcomes.
Free Article
Identifying Executive Functions to Engage Executive Functioning
Support social learners in developing executive functioning skills with a simple 4-step framework. Learn how routines, goal-setting, self-regulation, and flexible thinking build the foundation for success in school, friendships, and life.
Free Article
The Direction of Reflection
A Visual Tool for Checking In on Myself
Checking in on ourselves is just part of being human. Reflecting on how we’re feeling, what we’re thinking, and what we need is often the fuel that ignites our decisions about what we do or say (or not do or say) to meet our own goals for the situation. If we are checking in on ourselves, we can figure out if we need (or want) help from others.
The Social Thinking Vocabulary
The energy of students flows from the hallway into the classroom as a new school day begins. Students put their bodies in the group, think with their eyes to make a smart guess about the group plan, and use flexible thinking and problem solving throughout the day.
Free Article
Just Because Someone Says, “I Don’t Care,” Doesn’t Necessarily Mean They Don't!
The “I Don’t Care Scale” is a visual tool co-developed by teens to help educators, therapists, and caregivers better understand the perspective of the student who routinely responds with, “I don’t care.” It also acknowledges an individual’s point of view with empathy and without judgement while promoting meaningful discussions.
Free Article
Is It Worth the Risk? Exploring the Value of the Social Risk Scale
Consider that everything we do or say, and possibly what we don’t do or say, is perceived and interpreted by others. The Social Risk Scale is a simple visual tool to empower people to make their own decisions related to their social goals.
Free Article
The 3 Parts of Play: Teaching Planning and Executive Functions
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 explains that any activity, whether individual- or group-based, has at least three parts, and all parts involve time prediction.
How Can We Rally Our Motivation?
Summary:
- Finding the drive to complete hard or boring tasks is a learned skill that requires direct teaching, especially when kids or adults deal with anxiety or negative self talk.
- Simple strategies like breaking tasks into smaller chunks, setting up clear routines, and building in rewards make getting started much easier.
- Practical tools help put these concepts into action, including multiple free downloadables: Learning How to Be Comfortable with Discomfort teaching framework, 5 Steps to Getting Things Done, Asking for Help Strategy Card, How to Solve Problems Before (or After) They Become Problems, and Consider Your Social Risk Scale.
Empowering Student Voices
The Transformative Impact of Student-Led Social Learning & Advocacy
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). The powerful themes of choices and relationships highlight the essential elements needed for every student to feel a sense of belonging.
Free Article
How to Foster Students’ Flexible Thinking & Advocacy Skills Using Future Thinking
The Somedays Activity
Engage your students in the Someday in School activity, a low-effort, high-impact group activity that cultivates future thinking, reasoning, and flexible thinking to develop advocacy skills, while fostering goal setting, interactions with others, and the practice of using their voice for advocacy.
Free Article
DO ObseRve (DOOR)
A Practical Social Observation Strategy for Managing Social Transitions
Explore the teachable role that everyday doors play in developing social observation skills. By encouraging students, children, and clients to use the Do ObseRve strategy before entering a new space, they can gather information, make smart guesses about what to expect, and navigate social situations more effectively.
Free Article
One more BOO-tiful way to Teach Social Concepts using a Halloween Theme
Creating imaginary front doors for favorite Halloween characters can be a fun and friendly way to teach social observation, reading clues, people files, and smart guesses. Kids will enjoy transforming a simple file folder or folded paper into a front door where goblins, witches, mummies, or other Halloween characters might live.
Free Article
The ABCs of Summer Boredom
Awareness, Curiosity, and Action
"I’m bored!" in summer signals untapped potential. Recognizing cues is the first step. Explore signs, especially in children and teens, with strategies to transform boredom into creativity, fulfillment, and empowered decision-making.
Free Article
Vacation Tips: Strategies to Avoid, Soften, and Solve Travel Problems
Summertime is traveling time, whether in the car, train, bus, or airplane. And while travel can be exciting and fun for many, it can be stressful for individuals with social learning differences, difficulties, or disabilities and their travel companions. Learn about some common travel stressors and tips for a more pleasant trip for all!
Free Article
Be a Social Detective on Vacation!
Summer is almost here, and for many families that means vacation and new adventures—great opportunities to practice being a Social Detective! Explore why social observation is a crucial skill for everyone when traveling, and how to take a few minutes each day to increase social awareness in a fun, effective way.
Free Article
Two Simple Executive Function Strategies to Avoid Family Stress & Stay Connected During Summer Break
Summer break can be a time when change and lack of structure are the norm, which can be stressful for kids and parents alike. We share two executive function strategies for creating a summer break schedule that gives kids some responsibility for coming up with healthy ways to entertain themselves while staying connected with the family.
Free Article
Teaching an Essential Life Skill
How to Ask for Help
As social beings, we’re wired to want to help others. The reasons students and clients may find it difficult to ask for and accept help can be many: anxiety, shame, pride, a lack of awareness that they may need assistance, or not knowing the actual process of how to do it.
Free Article
Wrapping up the School Year with Social Thinking
Thoughts for Educators and Families
A teacher recently shared her thoughts on the end of the school year, referring to it as the time when educators and families have everything to do, and students have…nothing to do. So how do we finish up the school year with Social Thinking in an intentional but also realistic way?
What Is Shared Imagination & Why Is It So Important to Relationship Development?
Engaging in conversations requires more than meets the eye! 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.
Helping Students Cope with Change and Disruption
This article focuses on practical ways educators and schools can effectively support students and their families by serving as models of resilience during challenging times. 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.
Tenacity in Children
Nurturing the Seven Instincts for Lifetime Success
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.
Do We Really Need to “Get Back to the Green Zone”?
We Think Not
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.
Free Article
Social Perspective Taking & The 5 Steps of Being with Others
Social perspective taking helps us make meaning of people as they interact or coexist together in specific contexts. Explore what social perspective taking looks like, why it’s important, and how to define it in clear, practical terms.
10 Truths & Tips for Making and Keeping Friends
Making friends is a desired but complex social learning journey. The ability to forge new friendships and maintain older friendships provides us with an understanding of relationships and practice needed to feel included wherever we may be. The authors identify 10 factors for making and keeping friends and provide a list of practical resources.
Three Ways to Advocate for Students Who Appear Persistently “Checked Out”
When a student of any age exhibits a persistent pattern of disengagement, shows confusion, and seems to “check out” during routine classroom instruction, 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.
A Simple Strategy to Break Through Social Anxiety Barriers and Facilitate Student-Teacher Communication
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.
Social Metacognition
Using Social Emotional Learning to Engage Hope
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 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.
Help a Child Get Social Learning Services in an IEP Meeting
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. Discover a strategy that uses school mission statements to define what a public education is and better understand whether students have special educational needs.
5 Signs Your Child is Being Cyberbullied and How You Can Help
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.
What Does the Social World Look Like Through the Eyes of a Social Learner?
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.
Community Is About Caring
Helping Those with Social Anxiety
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.
14 Tips to Help All Kids Learn to Manage Anxiety
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.
Social Emotional Self-Regulation
Why It Doesn't Involve a Behavior Plan
Self-regulation and behavior control using behavior plans are two very different ideas. Regulation in this way comes from oneself, one’s inner tools, and strategies, while behavior plans are developed outside of the individual by others and are meant to shape pro-social or eliminate unwanted behaviors. There may be valid reasons and times to develop behavior plans, but teaching concepts around social learning, self-regulation, and executive functioning should not be one of those times.
Self-Regulation Strategies for the Educator
Managing Our Own Rock Brain Powers
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.
I'm Interested in You—Well, Sort Of
Social Anxiety, Face-to-Face Communication, Digital Devices, and the Art of Saying "Hi"
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.
Free Article
10 Levels to Living Independently
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.
Dating: A Practical Guide for Autistic People
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
Teach an Essential Conversation Skill
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
Teaching The Zones with Integrity
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.
9 Strategies to Encourage Generalization of Social Thinking® Concepts and Related Social Skills
Helping individuals build social competencies is very different from teaching specific social skills for specific situations (e.g., sharing toys at home or asking questions during an outing). The following article outlines our experiences engaging learners in the social learning process to help them understand why we use social skills and foster generalization across people, time, and space.
9 Tips for Talking to Parents About Their Child’s Social Differences or Challenges
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.
Are You Teaching Deeply, or Redirecting Behavior?
Using the Social Thinking Vocabulary Terms Expected and Unexpected
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.
"I Don't Care!"
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.
What is the ILAUGH Model of Social Thinking?
The ILAUGH Model of Social Thinking is a core (and critical) framework created and developed to help professionals and parents understand and think about the struggles faced by those with social learning differences and/or challenges. The Framework is based on an extensive literature base of both seminal and current research and represents the foundation of all Social Thinking concepts.
Social Learning Affects Life Outcomes
So why call it Non-Cognitive?
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. The research suggests that what we do socially is a by-product of many processes, including perspective taking/theory of mind, executive functioning, social attention, and interpretation of nonverbal and situational cues, all dependent on context and people. Is all of that mental work non-cognitive?
Understanding Unique Social Communication Characteristics and Social Learning Systems
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!) that defines six distinct social learning systems, including strengths of the learner, type of teaching & supports that best fit the learning system, and prognosis.
Social Thinking-Social Learning Tree
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, whether as a matter of cognitive, social, and emotional development from the “inside out” or “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.
Initiating Connection Is an Antidote to Loneliness
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.
Aha! Teaching Moments
Social Anxiety and Talking in Class
We learn so much from our clients—and we want to share it with you. In this free “Aha! Teaching Moments” article, 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.
Preparing for the Transition to Adulthood Part 1
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. 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.).
Preparing for the Transition to Adulthood Part 2
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 want to include the student in transition discussions, we also have to realize that many of our students cannot imagine something they have not experienced.
Preparing for the Transition to Adulthood Part 3
In part three of the adulthood transition series, explore a parent's perspective on aiding her son's transition. Through an extensive letter, the complexity of this process unfolds, emphasizing the challenges, even with ample resources and support.
Social Thinking & the Transition to Adulthood
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.
Information Informer or Social Relater?
Have you ever been talking to another person and suddenly realize you're talking too much about something really interesting to you, but not all that interesting to the other person? Once we realize what's happening, we try to shift attention away from the "me-focused" discussion and maintain a balance between attending to others' interests and needs while also getting a chance to share information about ourselves or our interests.
Explaining “Social Thinking” to Others
Q&A in Sound Bites
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.
Autism Awareness and Acceptance
10 Ways the Autism Community Has Influenced the Social Thinking Methodology
Every April, during National Autism Awareness and Acceptance 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 understand the perspective and input of those we learn alongside 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.
Slow and Fast Theory of Mind
Movie Time Processing Versus Real-Time Functioning
Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author, and his wife, Cornelia, had begun learning about the Social Thinking® Methodology to help their son, Owen. Ron described how Owen was born with strong early relationship skills that almost vanished overnight as a toddler and, by preschool and the early elementary school years, had become very limited in language, social communication, and many academic learning skills.
Social Communication and the 4 Steps of Communication
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.
10 Steps to Foster Organization: Homework and Beyond!
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, which involve planning, organizing, sequencing, prioritizing, shifting attention, and time management and can be well-developed in some people and less developed in others.
It’s Not About Appropriate vs. Inappropriate!
Teaching Expected & Unexpected Behaviors the Right Way
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, often by saying, “That’s inappropriate.” When we interpret the meaning behind this phrase, we usually find it implies disappointment or upset with the behavior and is therefore used to scold and redirect rather than to teach.
A Writing Problem is a Thinking Problem
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.
Addressing Social Competencies and Social Anxiety
Using the Spirals of Anxiety
Some students have significant anxiety that can get in the way of them accessing their solid social knowledge. This article introduces The Spirals of Anxiety, a tool developed with students to help them talk about the complexity of their social anxieties and how it can impact their social world.
Talking About Brain Smarts
How My Brain is Wired
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.
We Thinkers! Volume 1 Social Explorers and Braidy the StoryBraid Make a Great Pair!
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!
Thinking Flexibly About We Thinkers! Volume 1
Overview and Q&A
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.
How the GPS Interactive Play Scale Relates to Classroom Participation
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.
Adults and Being Social
We're All a Work in Progress!
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.
My Experiences with Social Thinking
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 are Empowered by Bystanders
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.
Stand UP with Social Thinking
12 Strategies Teaching Physical Movement as Part of Face-to-Face Communication
It's important to teach individuals with social learning differences/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!
Free Article
Teaching Through Thought Bubbles and Speech Bubbles
Use bubbles to depict impact in social interactions. Those with social learning differences may find real-time conversation tracking challenging, highlighting the need for assistance in grasping others' thoughts and feelings.
Identifying and Reinforcing Islands of Competence in Children with Special Needs
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.
Mindfulness and Social Thinking - Perfect Companions
Psychologist Abra Garfield (2015) states mindfulness techniques trace back to a 2500-year-old Buddhist meditation practice, designed for spiritual growth, enhanced concentration, unlocking human potential, and achieving inner peace.
Are You Teaching Expected and Unexpected the Wrong Way?
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.
Free Article
Teaching Students About Their Learning Styles
(Strengths, Differences, and Struggles)
Learning differences and relative challenges can be understood through a framework of “multiple intelligences,” emphasizing that each person has different types of intelligences as well as their own strengths, differences, and struggles. A lesson is provided to help students better understand their social learning strengths, differences, and struggles.
5 Teaching Ideas Connected to Pixar's Movie Inside Out
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.
Using Social Thinking® Vocabulary with My OWN Child
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.
The Words of Social Competence Matter When Supporting Students’ Social Development
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.
What Does an Emergency Arrest do or a Mental Health Placement Mean?
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 themself or others.
Learned Spontaneity
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.
For Teens, Mentoring Leads to Meaningful Social Learning
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.
Creating a Culture of Family-Centered Practice for the Autism Community
In this third and final part of my series on “Treatment Options and Parent Choice,” I consider ways that professionals serving Autistic children and their families can adopt practices to become more family-centered. The goal is to empower families with the knowledge and skills to make the best choices for their children and family unit, helping parents feel more in control and invested as active collaborators in treatment and educational planning.
Treatment Options and Parent Choice
Is ABA the Only Way?
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.
Treatment Options and Parent Choice
An Individualized Approach to Intervention
Choices about educational and treatment approaches may be among the most important, yet anxiety-arousing decisions made by parents of Autistic children. Today, the myriad educational and treatment approaches, and claims of success associated with some of them, are sources of overwhelming confusion for many parents, in contrast to the limited information and choices available a few decades ago.
An Aspie’s Learnings in Social Competence
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.
Ellipses to Better Define Social Relationships
A relationship, especially an intimate relationship, poses a lot of challenges for autistic people or others with social cognitive challenges. Contrary to math, a relationship is built around an infinite number of unwritten rules and laws, and because there are no fixed rules and each person tangos their own unique way, every relationship is unique.
Teaching the Size of the Problem in a Manner Friendly to All Neurotypes
Learn how to teach strategies for problem-solving using the concept of size of the problem. Size of the Problem is often taught in a manner that is forgets to emphasize problem-solving so this article expands practical ways to teach the concept for all neurotypes.
The Other Side of the Friendship Pyramid: Dealing with Dislike
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.”
Using Social Thinking in the Mainstream Classroom
Way for ALL Kids to Learn Social Concepts Together
From Autism Advocate Parenting Magazine: The Social Thinking Methodology began over 25 years ago to help neurotypical and neurodivergent students understand the social world. Founder Michelle Garcia Winner, joined by Dr. Pamela Crooke, continues to refine the approach with input from educators and individuals with social learning differences. Today, these tools support all students in mainstream classrooms through a shared social vocabulary.
Small (Group) But Mighty: Super-Powering This PBIS Intervention
Learn how small group counseling serves as a powerful Tier 2 PBIS intervention to support student social and behavioral growth. This guide offers school counselors practical tips for using data to plan, facilitate, and track the success of outcome-driven small groups.
Unlocking Potential: Innovative Library Programs Enhancing the Lives of Autistic Individuals
Libraries and other community resources can be a space for people with autism and their families and some can provide services and special programs for their autistic community. Autistic individuals are more likely to visit a public library than any other group and those with autism who do go to the library visit libraries twice as often.
Learning to Understand Others: Social Thinking
(with Portuguese Translation)
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.
La Première Démarche de la Communication - 4
French/français Article
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.
El Tercer Paso en la Comunicación: “Pensar con los Ojos”
Spanish/Español Article
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.
Penser Socialement: Enseigner l’impensable! - 1
French/français Article
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...
Le Cadre du Modèle I LAUGH
French/français Translated Article
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.
¿En qué se diferencia la enseñanza de las reglas ocultas o escondidas, de la enseñanza de los comportamientos esperados e inesperados?
Spanish/Español Article
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.
La Dance Sociale de la Communication - 3
French/français Translated Article
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.
Il Pensiero Sociale 3 - La Danza della Comunicazione Sociale: i Quattro Passi della Comunicazione
Italian/Italiano Translated Article
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.
Manejando Mejor la Impulsividad a Través de la Auto-Regulación
Spanish/Español Article
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.
Estoy interesado en usted, bueno, algo así: ansiedad social, comunicación cara a cara, dispositivos digitales y el arte de decir "Hola"
Spanish/Español Translated Article
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.
Tarea Escolar y Otras Cuestiones Enseñando Herramientas de Organización a Niños con TEA
Spanish/Español Translated Article
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).
Utilizando el Vocabulario de Social Thinking® con mi PROPIO hijo
Spanish/Español Translated Article
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.
Grundläggande utmaningar för den sociala kognitionen
Swedish/Svenska Translated Article
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:
Glossario de Pensamento Social
Portugese/Português Article
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!
¿El Análisis del Comportamiento Aplicado (ABA) es el único Camino?
Spanish/Español Translated Article
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).
Principes de base pour l’enseignement des habiletés sociales
French/français Article
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.
El Cuarto Paso en la Comunicación: Utilizando el Lenguaje Para Relacionarse con Otros
Spanish/Español Article
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.
Un desafío de aprendizaje social es un desafío de función ejecutiva social
Spanish/Español Article
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.
Le Comportement Social est Basé sur La Pensée Sociale - 2
French/français Article
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.
O Comportamento Social Começa com o Pensamento Social
Portugese/Português Article
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.
El Pensamiento Social: ¿Eenseñar lo Impensable?
Spanish/Español Article
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...
Enseñando el Segundo Paso de la Comunicación: Estimulando la Comunicación a Través de la Presencia Física
Spanish/Español Article
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.
Il Pensiero Sociale 2 - I Quattro Passi Del Pensiero Sociale
Italian/Italiano Article
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.
Utilizando los “Bloques de Construcción Social” – Del Juego a lo Académico
Spanish/Español Article
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.
Il Pensiero Sociale 4 - Il Primo Passo della Comunicazione: Pensare ai Pensieri
Italian/Italiano Article
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.
Il Pensiero Sociale 5 - Il Primo Passo della Comunicazione: Insegnare le Strategie del Pensiero
Italian/Italiano Article
A Dança da Comunicação Social: Os Quatro Passos da Comunicação
Portugese/Português Translated Article
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.
El Comportamiento Social Comienza Con el Pensamiento Social
Spanish/Español Article
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.
El Baile de la Comunicación Social: Los Cuatro Pasos de la Comunicación
Spanish/Español Translated Article
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.
El Primer Paso de la Comunicación: Enseñando Estrategias de Pensamiento
Spanish/Español Article
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.
O Primeiro Passo da Comunicação: Pensar Acerca do Pensamento
Portugese/Português Article
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.
Pensar Social!
Portugese/Português Article
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...
O Primeiro Passo da Comunicação: Ensinar Estratégias de Pensamento
Portugese/Português Article
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.
Il Pensiero Sociale 1 - Pensare Socialmente: Insegnare l’Impensabile?
Italian/Italiano Article
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...
El Segundo Paso de la Comunicación: Presencia Física
Spanish/Español Article
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.
Evaluando la Teoría de la mente en acción: La importancia de la evaluación informal y dinámica
Spanish/Español Article
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.
La Première Démarche de la Communication - 5
French/français Article
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.
O Segundo Passo da Comunicação: Presença Física
Portugese/Português Article
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.