The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

Direct social skills instruction is a critical feature for children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. We will demonstrate the connection between social thinking® and the development of social skills by showcasing interactive, developed activities using current technology. Activities will include examples of skill-building lessons, group problem solving, role playing, and Social Thinking® flow charts. Resources will be provided that enable teachers, therapists, and other professionals to replicate instructional materials and strategies. Social skills are a set of skills that people use to interact and communicate with others.  Social rules are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways.  Social thinking® is a way to train your brain to help you figure out the people around you- what they may be thinking, how that compares to what you’re thinking, and how to vary your actions based on what you and other people are thinking (Winner, 2008).  Successful social thinkers consider the points of view, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, prior knowledge and intentions of others. According to Michelle Garcia Winner, Social Thinking® is required prior to the development of social skills. 

This presentation represents work and materials that have evolved in a quest to address social skills instruction as it relates to social thinking concepts. These concepts have been used with elementary and middle school students on the autism spectrum in a classroom, small group, and summer program.  By utilizing Social Thinking® concepts, school based technology and creatively approaching instructional materials, this team makes it work for their students, staff, and families.

Social skills include a set of guidelines that are not generally taught, they are assumed.   Typical students entering kindergarten have basic social thinking abilities (a solid social operating system-Michelle Garcia Winner).  These include knowing others have thoughts different from theirs, knowing that they can learn by watching others, knowing what nonverbal information to look for, knowing what verbal communication needs to be attended to related to the teacher and knowing how to use social thinking® skills to regulate their own behavior in groups. Individuals with autism typically do not have these set of skills and these skills have to be explicitly taught through direct instruction. Specifically students with Higher Functioning autism/Asperger Syndrome need to be taught the “Why” behind learning social skills and how it directly applies to them.

Instruction in Social Thinking®, in order to be meaningful and promote generalization, needs to be collaboration between teachers, therapists, parents, and other professionals.  The strategies, materials and activities that will be presented to develop social thinking® are supported in the literature related to theory of mind, central coherence, and flexible thinking.  In addition, adaptations of current evidenced based Social Thinking® curricula will be presented, identifying the key components and supporting each of the key components with teacher-made adaptations using visual supports, assistive technology, and interactive whiteboards.

Learning Objectives: