Social skill education

[klmama]

In my Costco magazine I read an article about some computer software developed by some Costco members to help their dc with autism improve social skills.  Maybe it would be helpful to some of you.  www.thesocialexpress.com

[OneStepAtATime]

Thank you for sharing.  :)

[Kat w]

Yes, thank you for that. I'm looking for those things. I hope it's not expensive lol.

 

Sounds goofy but, I'm really glad there's a bi racial child in it!

All the downloads and things I've seen so far don't have that.

 

My kids are biracial. Well, 2 of them are. We adopted.

I at least will let them do the try it part and hope it doesn't cost too much. :)

[caedmyn]

We may try this. We're going through Superflex right now but I'm not very impressed with it. I thought Zones of Regulation was much better, but there was a lot it didn't cover. Maybe this would cover it and be easier to implement than Superflex.

[Mom28GreatKids]

This looks awesome. Thanks for linking it here. The reviews are fabulous and the cost not prohibitive. I think I may wait a year or two, but glad this will be here when we need it. Thanks again for sharing.

[PeterPan]

We may try this. We're going through Superflex right now but I'm not very impressed with it. I thought Zones of Regulation was much better, but there was a lot it didn't cover. Maybe this would cover it and be easier to implement than Superflex.

 

Our behaviorist is doing We Thinkers 2 right now with ds.  It's sort of the sequel to Incredible Flexible You, and she was saying she likes it a lot better than SuperFlex even.  It's very, very practical and has a lot of activities and extensions.

[PeterPan]

In my Costco magazine I read an article about some computer software developed by some Costco members to help their dc with autism improve social skills.  Maybe it would be helpful to some of you.  www.thesocialexpress.com

 

Hmm, it's interesting!  It's saying it works for all ages, but the characters look like pre-teens (12-14).  They're old enough that they're doing things on their own.  

 

I'm seeing a LOT of complex skills coming together here.  It might be a bit high starting point for some kids.  You've got the concepts from a LOT of the current Social Thinking materials put all into an 81 sequence webisode series.  The lessons themselves, the analysis, the social thinking are TERRIFIC.  I'm just saying it's a LOT of material in there, stuff that if you went to SocialThinking.com to buy you'd buy in multiple books.  That could be really good for some students, or it could be a good *follow-up* for others.

 

I'm just thinking about how my ds works.  The SocialThinking materials that cover the skills I'm seeing in the SocialExpress samples also come with physical activities, lessons, manipulatives, things in motion.  It lets them generalize the skills by using them in more contexts with a therapist who is stretching them, pulling it together.  It's true that watching videos is an evidence-based practice and for a population will improve social skills naturally.  But when you get down to the specific child, then you are asking will it be enough for my specific child, or does my specific child still need some help to generalize the skill to life, to use the language along with the skill, to recognize other things that are going on (being rigid, etc.) while doing the skill.

 

So, for instance, if I were to try to implement We Thinkers2 or Superflex or whatever with my ds, it would NOT look as complex as what the behaviorist does.  She's out there tromping around in the yard, applying the lessons, pulling in language and all her other experiences with him, really focused on getting it to carry over to life.  And it's MEMORABLE because he's a kinesthetic learner.  For him, in motion is essential!

 

The SocialExpress stuff is terrific, clearly.  I just think we have to look at our students and say ok, if they do that, will it generalize and carry over to life?  For some kids, it will.  The evidence is there that video modeling is an effective learning method.  But it won't be a complete approach for EVERY student.  If your student needs help to generalize or has a different starting point or is pressured by the pace or needs more kinesthetic, then this would be better as a follow-up, a more mature supplement for later.  

[PeterPan]

This looks awesome. Thanks for linking it here. The reviews are fabulous and the cost not prohibitive. I think I may wait a year or two, but glad this will be here when we need it. Thanks again for sharing.

 

Yes, I'm seeing concepts there from Zones, 5 Point Scale, We Can Make it Better, We Thinkers 1/2, etc. etc., and that's just in the samples!  Think about that.  Our kids might go through all those programs (which would take a couple years!) and THEN be ready to watch that webisode series and see it applied in new ways.  But just to say well he watched a video series so he should be able to do it now in life, haha, not happening.  Some kids really are going to need it slowed down.  They'll need to do it with a therapist, have lessons and games and activities to make it memorable, have the therapist help them explore how this comes together.  

 

They can't just try their fledgling social skills out on other kids, because the feedback would be too abrupt, too fast, too indiscernable for them.  Maybe some kids can, yes.  But my kid?  He would totally miss it.  He actually needs that slowed down, with the behaviorist giving him glaringly obvious feedback so he can see the cause/effect (action, reaction) thing going on.

 

But I like the software!  It's good stuff!  There's just always that gap between what you understand and what you do, the generalizing, being able to do it in more situations.  I'll bet you're going to see it a lot in schools, where it can be like ok we did that, done.  Much less tedious and expensive than training an SLP or someone and doing physical lessons with a group.  And in some ways, if you have a group of kids and need to do a social skills lesson, they might learn more by each having the software than sitting in a group and having less focused work.  This would be more active, more engaged, more intense for them.  When I went to the ST trainings, I met therapists who were doing this group stuff, and I think the software could be a welcome or even effective alternative for that.  Or like 15 minutes of that and 15 minutes together discussing and applying.  It could really work.

[PeterPan]

It says it includes songs and worksheets.  I'd like to see activities too. Kids of all ages benefit from activities.  

[Mom28GreatKids]

Yes, I'm seeing concepts there from Zones, 5 Point Scale, We Can Make it Better, We Thinkers 1/2, etc. etc., and that's just in the samples! Think about that. Our kids might go through all those programs (which would take a couple years!) and THEN be ready to watch that webisode series and see it applied in new ways. But just to say well he watched a video series so he should be able to do it now in life, haha, not happening. Some kids really are going to need it slowed down. They'll need to do it with a therapist, have lessons and games and activities to make it memorable, have the therapist help them explore how this comes together.

 

They can't just try their fledgling social skills out on other kids, because the feedback would be too abrupt, too fast, too indiscernable for them. Maybe some kids can, yes. But my kid? He would totally miss it. He actually needs that slowed down, with the behaviorist giving him glaringly obvious feedback so he can see the cause/effect (action, reaction) thing going on.

 

But I like the software! It's good stuff! There's just always that gap between what you understand and what you do, the generalizing, being able to do it in more situations. I'll bet you're going to see it a lot in schools, where it can be like ok we did that, done. Much less tedious and expensive than training an SLP or someone and doing physical lessons with a group. And in some ways, if you have a group of kids and need to do a social skills lesson, they might learn more by each having the software than sitting in a group and having less focused work. This would be more active, more engaged, more intense for them. When I went to the ST trainings, I met therapists who were doing this group stuff, and I think the software could be a welcome or even effective alternative for that. Or like 15 minutes of that and 15 minutes together discussing and applying. It could really work.

Yes, I thought as I looked at it that it might target late elementary students, though in the reviews there are reports of kiddos as young as 5 and 6 reportedly using it successfully. I still plan to use IFY first, and the follow-up - is that We Thinkers?

[Lecka]

I just looked at the social thinking home page today, and it has a new "play skills" thing.

 

It says we thinkers is the new name for incredible Flexible You.

 

We are looking at it for my rising 2nd grader.

[Mom28GreatKids]

I thought they were changing the name, but could not remember. Thanks Lecka!