Why Teach Social Thinking? by Michelle Garcia Winner

When I tell other parents, teachers, etc. that my son lives with Autism, I often find it hard to put into words what he struggles with.  This book helps to explain the challenges that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder-Social Communication Disorder (ASD-SCD) deal with on a daily basis.

Michelle Garcia Winner does such a fabulous job of describing these ASD-SCD challenges, that I will be quoting some key points from her book, along with some of my own thoughts thrown in.  I just finished reading this book and I strongly recommend that anyone who has a child or works with a child who experiences Autism read this book!  Ideally this book would be suitable to read before kids enter school or if they are already in school and are having some social challenges.  A lot of language in this book will help parents find commonality with professionals because they are speaking the same language.

“Students who are challenged in the areas of social thinking and social skills…struggle daily within an education system that is, at present, ill-suited to meet their needs.  Our current education of children (both students who have disabilities and those who don’t) is based on the assumption that all students enter school with basic social thinking abilities in place.”  (pg. xxi-Abstract)

“Seemingly simple social skills are, in reality, quite complex networks of interdependent thoughts and actions.  These skills develop without effort in neurotypical children.  It’s a normal part of the child’s social development.  This isn’t so for the child with social challenges.”  (pg. 5)

This really hit home for me.  I knew when my son entered Kindergarten, he was more delayed than his peers in language – both speaking and understanding, but it was and still is so much more than that!  Neurotypical children naturally learn social thinking and social skills just by being around other people.  It’s part of their normal development.  This isn’t the case for children with Autism.

“We should never underestimate the amount of work it takes our students to think socially, nor should we fail to recognize the pervasive levels of stress they live within on a daily basis.”  (pg. 228)

This is very important.  My son has participated in a lot of therapy and has made great strides and I sometimes forget how hard it is for him just to be a part of every day life.

“Parents responsible for teaching social skills to their children in their homes and communities aren’t prepared for the challenges of children who don’t actively and intuitively learn social thinking and related skills in their early years of life as a by-product of coexisting with others.”  (pg. 162)

Our children living with Autism have so many challenges.  Most of what they learn takes a lot of work on their part.  It doesn’t happen easily or naturally.

“One size doesn’t fit all; one method isn’t appropriate for all.  Successful programs are those that appreciate the individual nature of each student and base treatment on the student’s unique combination of social, behavioral and emotional needs in addition to considering the student’s temperament and developmental age.”  (pg. 16)

“There’s no one treatment program that is or will be applicable to every person with an ASD-SCD diagnosis.  We currently stress that each individual is unique.”  (pg. 170)

I completely agree.  My son has done more than one type of therapy because my husband and I felt it was important to look at his unique needs at different times and choose the treatments/therapies that best suited him at that time.

“We are all active learners of social information throughout our life span.  So, successful treatment programs for persons with social cognitive learning challenges are built on principals that grow with the child.”  (pg. 31)

“Treatment for persons with social learning challenges can last a lifetime, given the nuance and sophistication of the ever-changing social world and the complexities we encounter as we get older.”  (pg. 227)

“It’s unreasonable to think that early social learning instruction will result in students who have no need for services as they move into adolescence and young adulthood.”  (pg. 31)

I believe it’s important for people with Autism to continue treatment/learning programs throughout their life.  It’s not realistic to think they will have caught up to their peers when they have finished high school.  If we want adults who experience Autism to be confident and active participants in society, we need to help them to continue to learn.

“Social thinking goes beyond teaching friendship skills.”  (pg. 200)

“There’s no place or situation within the school environment where social thinking and related skills aren’t used.”  (pg. 207)

“We use social thinking and related social skills any time we are in the presence of people, regardless of whether or not we intend to communicate with them.”  (pg. 72)

When my son was first diagnosed with Autism, I worried that he wouldn’t have the social skills to make friends.  Now, I know it’s so much more than that.  I realize that social thinking and the related social skills are used in every aspect of life.  For example, doing your banking, grocery shopping, working, being part of a group in a classroom or playing a game/sport in gym class.

“We incorrectly assume that students who perform well on intelligence and academic testing also have equally advanced social thinking skills.”  (pg. 74)

This is so important for parents and educators to know and remember:  Just because a child does well academically does not mean he/she has age appropriate social skills.

“From a social perspective, it’s our student’s ability to adapt to a variety of social contexts that best prepares them for independence and adulthood and increases their chances for success in society at large.”  (pg. 208)

Daily life can be very unpredictable and our kids with Autism need more time and patience to learn to adapt and be flexible in many different situations.

“A student’s academic-learning challenges are linked to social learning abilities.”  (pg. 97)

I used to think that social learning and academic learning were separate problems.  NOT SO!  They are linked!

“Sensory integration is the organization of sensation for use.  We learn about the world through our senses, not just through mental processing.  Students with social learning challenges often have difficulty synthesizing sensory information.  Any one or a combination of senses may be distorted.  Sensory disintegration makes it difficult for the body and mind to process and respond efficiently, resulting in individuals feeling out of balance.  Sensory integration challenges potentially limit the information a person can absorb and process effectively, negatively impacting the person’s ability to learn and behaviorally or emotionally cope with the complex world around them.”  (pg. 43)

So, so, so important!  Cognitive and social learning can be very difficult for a person when the world around him/her is too loud or too bright.  Multiple sensory inputs can make him/her overloaded and disoriented.

Well that is just the tip of the iceberg.  There is so much more fantastic information in this book.  I encourage all of you to read it.  Knowledge is power…and the more knowledge and awareness we can provide to everyone in our communities about Autism, the better off we all will be.