The term Social Thinking now encompasses many treatment programs broady described as “teaching social thinking and related social skills”. These strategies share common traits and differ from “social skills” teaching by getting at the thinking behind being social.
Social Thinking strategies teach individuals: How their own social minds work – why they and others react and respond the way they do; How their behaviours have emotional affects on those around them; And from this, how behaviours are affecting their own emotions, responses to and relationships with others across different social contexts. The objectives of Social Thinking strategies for individuals include the ability to: Recognise the different levels of their own and others’ social minds; Navigate their behaviours for more rewarding social outcomes, which include considering how others perceive and respond to these behaviours; Learn to adapt to the people and situations around them, across contexts, from formal (classroom, workplace, etc.) to casual settings (hanging out, recess, etc.). Social Thinking is flexible thinking. Social thinking is a term for social cognition. Social thinking is required prior to the development of social skills. Successful social thinkers consider the points of view, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, prior knowledge and intentions of others (this is often called perspective-taking or considering the perspectives of others). For most of us this is an intuitive process. We can determine the meanings behind the messages communicated by others and how to respond to them within milliseconds to three seconds! Social thinking occurs everywhere, when we talk, share space, walk down the street, even when we read a novel and relate to our pets. It is an intelligence that integrates information across home, school, work and community settings and it’s something we usually take for granted! In typically developing brains, social thinking is hard-wired at birth and learned intuitively from infancy onward. Most of us develop our communication skills as we grow-up, steadily observing and acquiring social information and learning how to respond to the people around us. But many people have great difficulties with this process. This is a challenge for individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome, High-Functioning Autism, ADHD, PTSD and other social and communication challenges that may not attract a label. Many people can score high on IQ and standardized tests and have quite limited social skills. In fact, the research published by the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders indicates that Social Thinking methodologies are successful at teaching the ability to interact socially in people with social limitations who have near-normal to way above-normal intelligence. In addition, the Social Thinking strategies that have helped children and adolescents have also helped adults. Because social thinking is so important to learning throughout life, professionals and parents are using social thinking methods to assist an increasingly broad range of individuals. Michelle Garcia Winner Over a decade ago, Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP, coined the term Social Thinking and developed the related treatment approach for individuals with high-functioning autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and similar challenges. Michelle, Tony Attwood, Carol Gray, Barry Prizant, Kari Dunn Buron, Diane Twatchman-Cullen, Cathy Pratt, Brenda Smith Myles have all contributed to the development of Social Thinking and related treatment strategies. However, much of the growth of Social Thinking, both nationally and internationally, can be attributed to its use by professionals, parents and other caregivers who modify strategies for their settings and student needs.
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