Upcoming

Social Thinking Conferences

 Click the images below to learn more or register!  

  

  

We are thrilled to announce the opening of our Social Thinking sister clinic in Boston! Now, individuals who live in the Boston area will be able to take advantage of the same services currently only available to our San Francisco Bay area clients. 

Social Thinking Boston, run by Nancy Clements, MA CCC-SLP, opened in late 2012 as a fully endorsed clinic licensed by Social Thinking. Nancy is a member of the Social Thinking Training and Speakers Collaborative and was former Program Manager of the Social Thinking and Communications Services program at the Stern Center for Language and Learning in Vermont. There she developed a comprehensive Social Thinking program which served over 60 children weekly.

Social Thinking Boston is dedicated to developing and practicing innovative treatment approaches and assisting individuals with social learning challenges, using the core principals of Social Thinking. The clinic interfaces seamlessly with the San Jose Social Thinking Centers in developing state of the art programs, problem solving strategies, and collaborative training and resource sharing.

STB is currently running Individual and Group sessions and will provide social thinking assessments beginning in the spring of 2013. Check out their inventive and experiential programs: Camp Compass, a unique summer social learning experience, and Adolescent Book Chats, which provide a bridge between reading comprehension and social learning.  

 

www.socialthinkingboston.com 

or call (978) 610-6603.

Have you ever wondered what it must be like to work with and learn from Michelle? Here's your chance! 

Our Social Thinking - Stevens Creek Center (ST-SC) is Michelle's original clinic and now operates as a "sister" clinic to her current clinic (Social Thinking-Santana Row) about a mile down the road. We are seeking 2 part-time or full-time Speech Language Pathologists to join our team starting in Summer 2013. Individuals should be licensed (or willing to become licensed) in California and very familiar applying Social Thinking concepts and related strategies with school-aged students with social learning challenges (higher functioning ASD, ADHD, NVLD, etc.). At least two years experience using the concepts in a school or clinical environment is a must. (We are not accepting CFYs at this time.) One of the positions will have a heavy preschool focus. Experience working with adults is a plus. 

The ST-SC clinical staff trains with Michelle, Dr. Pam Crooke and Stephanie Madrigal on a regular basis. In addition to a competitive salary and great benefits package, there is also tremendous opportunity for growth. Please send your resume to Randi Dodge at rdodge@socialthinking.com or mail to: Social Thinking - Stevens Creek Center, Attn: Randi Dodge, 3550 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 200, San Jose CA 95117.   

Just think - by this summer, you could be a member of the Social Thinking team!

Read more about the services we offer at the clinic, 

or apply today!   

Take your knowledge of Social Thinking to the next level and receive personalized training from Michelle and her core team! The Social Thinking Clinical Training Program offers professionals the opportunity to observe real sessions with a range of students and participate in group discussions about treatment and assessment. The program consists of three days of training in Social Thinking concepts and demonstration therapy at our San Jose location. This amazing program has been going strong since 2003 and has received excellent reviews! 

Eligibility requirements include having attended at least two full days of Social Thinking workshops led by Michelle Garcia Winner, Stephanie Madrigal or Dr. Pam Crooke, and/or having read our core books Inside Out: What Makes a Person with Social Cognitive Deficits Tick? and Thinking About YOU Thinking About ME, 2nd Edition. We seek participants who can engage with each other at an advanced discussion level about these concepts. (The program is not intended as a time for teaching Social Thinking 101.)

Fall 2013 openings: October 14-16, November 18-20, December 2-4.

Winter/Spring 2014 openings: January 13-15, February 3-5, March 17-19, April 28-30.

The application deadline is April 15th so now is the time to apply. Applicants will be notified by the end of May.

Learn more about the program here!

 

We thought Boston loved Social Thinking, but Chicago - you're close behind! Day 1 of our April 24-26 conference is already sold out, and we expect Days 2 and 3 to sell out quickly, well before the April 10th early bird deadline. Register now to reserve your seat and learn from these stellar professionals! 

• Maryellen Rooney Moreau, CCC-SLP and Michelle Garcia Winner team up to kick start Day 2 with "Critical Thinking: How We Learn It and Teach It." They examine how their two treatment models, Story Grammar Marker and Social Thinking respectively, work together to promote narrative language and critical thinking in higher functioning individuals.  

• Ruby Hsu, MA, an in-the-trenches 5th grade teacher talks about using Superflex in general education classrooms and the positive impact it had on students' behavioral regulation and social awareness.  

• In "Creative Ways to Teach Core Social Thinking Lessons," Pam Crooke, PhD, CCC-SLP describes how she has used a number of different game-type lessons, such as "The Amazing Race," as a motivating way to develop social thinking, self-awareness, and self-regulation. Attendees consistently give this presentation high marks!  

• Day 2 wraps up with the core Social Thinking team (Michelle Garcia Winner, Pam Crooke, and Stephanie Madrigal) discussing recent changes to the Common Core educational standards, strategies to help you write IEPs, and how the DSM-5 may impact our treatment process.  

• Day 3 takes a younger focus as two authors of our new early learners curriculum, Nancy Tarshis and Kari Palmer, present "Teaching Social Thinking through Stories & Play in Preschool and Early Elementary School." The speakers introduce 10 Social Thinking Vocabulary concepts that have been adapted for children ages 4-7, and provide methods to teach these concepts through story books, music, structured activities, and play.     

 

Social Fortune or Social Fate

When you pick this book up for the first time, you might think there has been a serious printing error ... half of the text is printed upside down! But if you're familiar with Japanese comics, as many of our students are, it might not be so shocking. They often have nontraditional layouts and in this book, the odd layout serves a specific purpose. 

In the Social Fortune part of the book, the characters play out 10 different scenarios where the main character makes positive social choices, ones that lead to others and the character feeling good about the interaction. 

Then, flip the book over, and the Social Fate part shows the characters making not-so-great social decisions, ones that trap themselves and others in uncomfortable or frustrating situations.

Students can't help but learn as they read!

"Love the emotion meters, thought and speech bubbles and graphics as a way to help students incorporate and internalize what they have learned from social-behavior mapping and hidden curriculum lessons. This is a great way for teens to learn about their own and others' Social Thinking."
Lydia Garcia Liu, M.S. Speech Language Pathologist, Tucson, AZ

"Cool! The illustrations would appeal to ages 12-17. The facial expressions show what they are feeling. When you flip the book it's like a replay on a social situation."
Tyler Bozetski, high school sophomore, age 16  

READ MORE ON OUR WEBSITE!

Adapting to Cultures: Our Communities' Culture and the Culture of ASD

Recently I was asked by a school educational specialist for advice on responding to a parent's question about her bright high school student who has Asperger's Syndrome. The question was something like this:

"Why should my son have to change his social behavior given that it represents his own social culture of ASD?"

The parent was, in part, also asking why the focus of treatment wasn't on changing how others responded to her child's individuality. This is a question that has popped up on occasion from adolescents and adults with higher functioning ASD and their parents. Many of you may have your own thoughts on how to address this question, but here's my perspective ...

READ MORE!

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I am so often humbled by the many people who approach me after a speaking event and relate how the Social Thinking information they implemented resulted in tangible changes they've seen in their students, spouses, sons and daughters, etc. And it's not just better behavior or better skills they talk about ... they tell me how the person has changed at a core level of thinking and processing, and how wide an impact it's had on all their lives. I hope you know how much your words mean to me. They motivate me to think more, write more, dissect situations more, and continue to evolve our Social Thinking framework. Thanks to each and every one of you for giving me that opportunity. As I learn to better understand our students/clients I learn to better understand myself. Hopefully you also find that this information opens doors to understanding each other, regardless of whether you have deeper social learning needs.

My best, 

Michelle