Michelle Garcia Winner January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co Teaching 4-7 year olds Social Thinking – The Incredible Flexible You Curriculum and Storybooks The Incredible Flexible You, Vol 1 Michelle Garcia Winner M.A., CCC-SLP Volume 1 Curriculum, 5 Story books and Music CD; Volume 2 is due out in fall 2015 Extensive research review leads to cogniKve behavioral teachings based on the evidence. ro m Ge tti ng f Lessons based on developmental research-‐ he re to th er eè Co-authors: Ryan Hendrix M.S., CCC-SLP Kari Zweber Palmer M.A., CCC-SLP Nancy Tarshis M.A., M.S., CCC-SLP Copyright 2012 Social Thinking Publishing Hendrix, Palmer, Tarshis, Winner Shaky Developmental foundations Social Thinking Vocabulary Volume One Five core lessons Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings The Group Plan Thinking With Your Eyes Body in the Group Whole Body Listening* *Original Concept by Suzanne Truesdale Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com 1 Michelle Garcia Winner January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co Some lessons based on core concepts: Think with Your Eyes Open your eyes, take a look Look real carefully Is that a grin, over my chin? Think with your eyes and see It’s all in one place, right here on my face And if you look at me You might find a frown, or a smile upside down Think with your eyes, you’ll see When you’re looking at me I know you’re thinkin’ of me Think with your eyes and see! Body in the Group •  Structured Activity: Freeze! •  Start music and have a dance party! •  Pause the song briefly throughout and have the children FREEZE. •  Discuss the physical presence of everyone: –  Is it still a group or are there kids all over the room? –  Whose body is still in the group? –  Who danced out? Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com Volume 2 addresses issues related to teaching social complexity/executive functioning 1.  Expected –Unexpected behavior and hidden rules 2.  Smart guess – Wacky guess 3.  Stuck thinking verses flexible thinking 4.  Problem solving 5.  Sharing an imagination 2 Michelle Garcia Winner January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co At the end of each set of lessons we all want kids to use the concepts in pretend play. However, many of our kids cannot play well with peers. How to solve for this problem!? What is Shared Collaborative Imaginative Play? •  Elaborated, ever-evolving play scenarios that happen across time and space •  Players shift and adapt to changing roles and themes •  Players monitor their own and others participation in order to keep it moving smoothly Two Year Olds Are some kinds of play better than others for social learning? Shared Collaborative Imaginative Play (SCIP) How do kids get to SCIP? Baby and Early Toddler Play How big is baby? Peekaboo This is the way the ladies ride… Telephones, vacuums and dishes… Three Year Olds •  Play becomes more complex •  Abstract thought emerges: Imagination •  Pretending with familiar objects •  Parallel play is turning into cooperative •  Parallel play •  Sharing an imagination emerges •  Taking a role-becoming a familiar character •  Developing a sense of self and expectations of others •  Materials don’t have to look real Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com play 3 Michelle Garcia Winner January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co Early Pre-school (3.5) Increased social skill with peers Problem-solving Perspective-taking Four Year Olds •  •  •  •  •  Collaborative scripts Negotiating with peers Increased pretense/fantasy Problem solving real problems Increasing self-regulation Making friends Play and Narratives The play and academic connection •  Play scenarios have a story structure •  Kids with social learning challenges don’t intuit that structure. •  Story structure à reading comprehension •  Metalinguistic awareness •  We have to pre-load it for –  (thinking and talking about language) them! •  Increased ability to share complex ideas “One of the things we’ve learned is that when children engage in pretend play, have imaginary friends, or explore alternative worlds, they are learning what people are like, how people think, and the kinds of things people do” -Dr. Alison Gopnick Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com Shared collaborative imaginative play (SCIP) and structured, well-thought out social lessons and experiences, are key to promoting the growth of the social mind in all children. 4 Michelle Garcia Winner January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co This kind of play is important for all kids and it seems so simple …. Why is it so hard for our kids? Successful play requires processing multiple pieces of information simultaneously For some kids it is. Eye tracking research How do we think about attention? Object oriented attention Focus point is more on objects than people When greater than 68% of viewing time of toddlers as young as 14 months was spent fixated on geometric objects, 100% of the participants were diagnosed with Autism. Social Attention Focus on people within a complex social landscape. How do we study social attention? •  The truth is, we don’t yet know •  Atypical object interest and object use teach us something about when it goes off course •  Still, we don’t exactly know HOW it goes right Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com Pierce, K., Conant, D., Hazin, R., Desmond, J., & Stone A preference for geometric patterns early in life as a risk factor for autism. Archives of General Psychiatry. 68 (1):101-9, 2011 How do we define social attention in a social landscape? The ability to incorporate: Situational attention Perspective taking Social self-awareness 5 Michelle Garcia Winner January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co Social Landscape VS Tunnel Landscape Social Landscape Attention is focused on 360 degrees in a complex social landscape (people, place, objects, situation). Tunnel When attention is narrowly focused, often on objects. Tunnel And, on top of all that… we need to share our imagination Exploring imagination Singular Ability to think about things that are not real Something that only exists or happens in your mind Shared How does this information about social attention and the development of shared imagination impact our teaching? Share an idea, so we can create and sustain play with contributions from all of the play partners The basis of play and conversation Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com 6 Michelle Garcia Winner January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co It comes back to a fundamental question What else do we need to teach young children when it comes to understanding and participating in the social experience? We went back and thought a lot about how hard it is to engage in SCIP – shared collaborative imaginative play- …and the fact that not all children can play together in the same way Introducing… The Social Thinking - GPS© …and we decided it was time to create a scale of social play for 4-7 year olds. Social Thinking GPS Level 5 The Social Thinking –Group Play and Problem Solving Scale Why the Social Thinking GPS? •  Means of observing and categorizing play Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 •  Helps us with intervention planning and realistic expectations Level 1 Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com 7 Michelle Garcia Winner January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co Social Thinking GPS Me Level 1 Me + You Level 2 ME to WE Level 3 ME •  Self-focused play •  Object-oriented play •  Singular Imagination •  Include adults when adults actively seek their attention or follow the child’s lead WE Level 4 What’s the difference between a ME and a WE based player? SCIP Level 5 WE •  Emerging or emerged in their ability to socially attend to peers •  Shared Imagination •  Able to engage in peer based play (with differing levels of support) What does play look like? What is the child focused on? What kind of imagination? Level 1: ME play Level 2: ME + YOU play What does play look like? Play is very singular and object/action focused Child plays alone Briefly attends to an adult if s/he is actively seeking child’s attention. What is attention focused on? Objects Singular or Shared Imagination? Singular What does play look like? Play is still quite singular but attempts to engage the adult to play their way. With a lot of work by the adult, the student will briefly attend to a peer. Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com What is attention focused on? Objects and Adult Singular or Shared Imagination? Singular 8 Michelle Garcia Winner Level 3: ME to WE play What does play look like? Adult directed play with adult providing the ideas, script, and context. Peers take a role and enact the play within the adult structure. What is attention focused on? Noticing Peers but focused on Adults Singular or Shared Imagination? Emerging into shared Level 5 : SCIP What does play look like? Shared Collaborative Imaginative Play (SCIP)- Peers provide ideas, shift, negotiate, and problem solve on their own. What is attention focused on? Peer to Peer January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co Level 4: WE play What does play look like? With minimal adult facilitation in the form of props, materials and initial ideas, peers can begin to create structured play together. What is attention focused on? Starting to focus on Peers with Adults present Singular or Shared Imagination? Shared Developmental Expectations SCIP in four year olds will look different than SCIP in six or seven year olds Singular or Shared Imagination? Shared. Peers are leaders and followers. How do we teach towards SCIP? And remember, each student will make progress as compared to him or herself. We start with where they are… Not every student will make it to fully realized shared collaborative play. Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com 9 Michelle Garcia Winner Keep in mind January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co What does play look like? Social thinking is a languagebased approach What is the child focused on? Therefore we want to use it with children who have average to strong language and cognition What kind of imagination? Level 1 ME based player Role of the adult Adult led activity Level of Structure High Fully Adult-directed Role of the student Imitate adult with peers nearby Level 3 ME to WE based player Role of the adult Adult facilitates peer interactions with shared ideas Level of Structure Moderate-High Adults direct peers to listen to each other Role of the student Suggest ideas Follow ideas of peers -with adult coaching/ adult problem-solving Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com Level 2 ME+YOU Based Player Role of the adult Adult facilitates peer interactions with shared materials Level of Structure High Fully Adult-directed Role of the student Notice /share materials with peers during highly structured play Level 4 WE based player Role of the adult Adult facilitates peer decision-making Level of Structure Fair-Moderate Role of the Student Suggest ideas, shift gears to incorporate different ideas of peers 10 Michelle Garcia Winner Level 5 SCIP Role of the adult None, unless there is a need for higher level problem solving Level of Structure Low Role of the student Provide ideas, shift, negotiate, problem solve. Peers both lead and follow interchangeably. Copyright 2015 Think Social Publishing, Inc www.socialthinking.com January 30, 2015 Colorado Springs, Co Volume 2: coming fall of 2015! Ryan Hendrix [email protected] Kari Zweber Palmer [email protected] Nancy Tarshis [email protected] For more information sign up for the newsletter at: www.socialthinking.com 11