Social Thinking Group Updates

We've been super busy working in our Social Thinking groups. I'm proud of all the hard work that the kids have been putting into learning new skills. Here are some of the things we've been working on and resources you can use at home...

Kinder group #1: We've been working on developing language skills for positional words including "on, under, and above". We've also worked on expanding our recognition of basic feelings facial expressions.

Kinder/1st grade: We've continued working on expanding the accurate recognition of facial expressions. We've also worked on learning how to use a 5 point scale to identify our anxiety level, triggers that typically put us in the "danger zone" (4 or 5), and strategies to use to bring our anxiety back down to a manageable level (1 or 2). The 5 point scale is adopted from Kari Dunn Burton's work The Incredible 5 Point Scale.

The calming sequence is adopted from her book When My Worries Get Too Big.  The instructions for the calming sequence are to: close your eyes, breathe in and out slowly, and rub your thighs. We also add the instruction to "think of your happy place". The kids all came up with a location or image they could think of that made them feel calm and good. Ask your child where his "happy place" is. It is a great idea to practice using the calming sequence during calm periods so that it is easier to access during stressful moments.

2nd grade: We've spent a great deal of time delving into Superflex (created by Michelle Garcia Winner) and the strategies to defeat the Unthinkables. Superflex is a superhero who uses flexible thinking to solve social problems.

The two main Unthinkables that we have covered are Rockbrain (the boss of the Unthinkables) who makes us get stuck on our own ideas and not be flexible with alternative ways of doing things and Glassman who makes us have big reactions to small problems. The boys have identified common situations that cause them to have difficulty with Rockbrain and Glassman and strategies to defeat them. Please feel free to use any of these resources at home to help your child (or have your child help you!) defeat the Unthinkables.

The main calming tool that we are using to defeat Glassman and start to problem solve is progressive relaxation. Here is a visual that you can use to guide at home. The "shortcut" way is just to tighten fists and release with a deep breath.

We also use the following guidelines to help us determine what size the problem really is. Sometimes problems can feel really big, but when we check it out we find that they are more manageable than we originally thought.

5th grade: We have been working on continuing our discussion about conversation skills and have explored how to identify sarcasm. As you can imagine as we prepare for middle school, recognizing sarcasm is an important skill to know! We discussed the common characteristics of sarcasm which include variations in tone, saying the opposite of what is meant, and appropriate audiences for sarcasm - usually not your teachers or parents! ;)  We watched video examples of sarcasm and identified what the real meaning is in the verbal exchange.

We are eager to expand all these skills in the new year!

I want to wish all of you a relaxing, peaceful and joyous holiday. I hope you all get a chance to relax and enjoy quiet time with your precious kiddos! See you in 2013!

Upcoming Schedule for Parent Support Co-op

The Difficulty of Making Behavioral Change

Parents,
I just wanted to share this article with you from Pam Crooke, PhD, CCC-SLP. She works with Michelle Garcia Winner at the Social Thinking Clinic in California. She wrote this article about the difficulty and complexity of making behavioral change. It certainly serves as a good reminder about the complicated nature of what we ask students to do on a yearly basis. I encourage you to read it and email me any questions you have about the process or the techniques described. If you have a question, I'm sure others do as well. I would love to answer any questions that I can!

Click here to access the article.

Visuals To Prompt Play Skills

We've spent a number of weeks targeting group play skills including sharing and taking turns in the Kinder & 1st grade social thinking groups. The following visual has proven useful to cue students to use language to initiate and maintain play interactions. Feel free to print and use at home.

This powerpoint social story can also be helpful to review the "playdate rules" before playing with a friend.   Click here to download the "Playing with a Friend" social story.

Social Thinking Group Updates

Here are the latest tidbits from our Social Thinking groups...

Kinder & 1st Grade has been learning about play skills outdoors and indoors. We have been learning and practicing how to initiate play, how to share materials and toys, and how to take turns. The kids have watched video modeling by Playtime with Zeebu and have worked to problem solve basic problems in play situations. The kids love Zeebu. There are some basic feelings identification games available on the website if you would like to access them from home. Just click HERE to access the website.

2nd graders and 5th graders have worked hard on developing conversation skills. We have used various video modeling resources as well as experiential activities. We have practiced how to show and tell when others are interested or not interested, how to observe appropriate personal space, how to use our friend files to help us figure out what to talk about, how to take conversational turns, and how to adjust through related conversational topics. We are now beginning to learn about flexible thinking through the Superflex curriculum. Superflex is a curriculum created by Michelle Garcia Winner. Superflex is a superhero who teaches how to use strategies to defeat the "Unthinkables". Unthinkables are characters who cause inflexible thinking. As we study various strategies, I will post visual tools that you can use at home in the sidebar.