What is Social Thinking (c)?

Social Thinking (c) is a concept originated by Michelle Garcia Winner. She defines Social Thinking (c) as:

Social thinking is what we do when we interact with people: we think about them. And how we think about people affects how we behave, which in turn affects how others respond to us, which in turn affects our own emotions.

Whether we are with friends, sending an email, in a classroom or at the grocery store, we take in the thoughts, emotions and intentions of the people we are interacting with.

Most of us have developed our communications sense from birth onwards, steadily observing and acquiring social information and learning how to respond to people. Because social thinking is an intuitive process, we usually take it for granted. 

But for many individuals, this process is anything but natural. And this often has nothing to do with conventional measures of intelligence. In fact, many people score high on IQ and standardized tests, yet do not intuitively learn the nuances of social communication and interaction. (http://www.socialthinking.com/what-is-social-thinking)

If you are new to learning about how Social Thinking (c) instruction impacts your child, you might find the videos below helpful. They are excerpts from workshops provided by Michelle Garcia Winner.