Social Thinking is a treatment framework and curriculum developed by Michelle Garcia Winner that targets how to enhance and improve social thinking abilities, regardless of diagnostic label (often there isn’t a diagnosis). Social Thinking’s Mission directly taken fromwww.socialthinking.com:
“At Social Thinking®, our mission is to help people develop their social competencies to better connect with others and live happier, more meaningful lives. We create unique treatment frameworks and strategies to help individuals as young as four and across the lifespan develop their social thinking and social skills to meet their personal social goals. These goals often include sharing space effectively with others, learning to work as part of a team, and developing relationships of all kinds: with family, friends, classmates, co-workers, romantic partners, and more.”
I am using these methods from Social Thinking to build social thinking and related social skills. Social Thinking concepts and strategies are designed for people with social learning challenges. The teachings of Social Thinking also are widely used to help me figure out how to teach about information that we traditionally have never taught before. Given the explicit nature of these social emotional teachings, they are also being used with all my students to encourage improved social problem solving.
Social Thinking Website
Social Thinking Vocabulary is used DAILY in my classroom as well as at home with parents. This Social Thinking Vocabulary is from the book Social Thinking Thinksheets for Tweens and Teens: Learning to Read In-Between the Social Lines written by Michelle Garcia Winners ©2011 Think Social Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Winners, Michelle Garcia. Social Thinking Thinksheets for Tweens and Teens: Learning to Read In-Between the Social Lines ©2011 Think Social Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(Winners, Michelle Garcia. Social Thinking Thinksheets for Tweens and Teens: Learning to Read In-Between the Social Lines pgs. 11-14 ©2011 Think Social Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Here are some of the Social Thinking books that I have used throughout the years that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE!
Superflex: A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum written by Stephanie Madrigal and Michelle Garcia Winners. Illustrated by Kelly Knopp ©2008 Think Social Publishing, Inc. socialthinking.com. All Rights Reserved.
Book description directly taken from Superflex Description: “Superflex®: A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum provides educators, parents and therapists fun and motivating ways to teach students with social and communication difficulties (undiagnosed or diagnosed, such as Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, high-functioning autism or similar). The three-part cognitive behavioral curriculum helps students develop further awareness of their own thinking and social behaviors and learn strategies to help them develop better self-regulation across a range of behaviors.” (Ages 8-13)
Superflex Book Link
(Superflex: A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum written by Stephanie Madrigal and Michelle Garcia Winners. Illustrated by Kelly Knopp ©2008 Think Social Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Social Thinking and Me written Michelle Garcia Winners and All Rights Reserved.
Book description directly taken from Social Thinking and Me Description: “Social Thinking and Me is a powerhouse of social knowledge to help children in upper elementary and middle school transition into the more socially-complex and socially-demanding older grades and become stronger social problem solvers. Whether it is thinking about hidden rules and expected behavior, developing a deeper understanding of your emotions and how you influence the emotions of others, or comparing the size of your reaction to the size of the problem, this two-book set breaks larger and more complicated social concepts down into smaller chunks to make it easier for adults to teach and kids to learn. It gives teachers, students and parents a common language to easily discuss social strengths and weaknesses. This curriculum introduces and teaches Social Thinking Vocabulary and concepts.” (Ages 9-13)
(Social Thinking and Me written Michelle Garcia Winners and All Rights Reserved.)
Social Thinking and Me Book Link
Thinking about You Thinking About Me written by Michelle Garcia Winners ©2007 All Rights Reserved.
Book description directly taken from Thinking about You Thinking About Me Description: “This is where to start to learn more about social interaction and social awareness. Understanding the perspectives of others is key to all interpersonal relationships. This is for students who struggle with social and communication challenges and have difficulties understanding that other people have perspectives that are different from their own. This book provides specific lessons, and how to apply them in different settings, are explored. The Four Steps of Communication creates a framework for understanding the complexities of social thinking and for enhancing perspective-taking in students. Social Behavior Mapping and IEPs are examined. How to focus concepts for ages and skill levels are presented through practical handouts, activities and lesson ideas.” (Ages 4-Adult) 
(Thinking about You Thinking About Me written by Michelle Garcia Winners ©2007 All Rights Reserved.)
Thinking About You Thinking About Me Book
You are a Social Detective! Explaining Social Thinking to Kids written by Michelle Garcia Winners and Pamela Crooke. Illustrated by Kelly Knopp ©2008 All Rights Reserved.
Book description directly taken from You are a Social Detective! Description: “When we use our eyes, ears, and brains to figure out what others are planning to do next or are presently doing and what they mean by their words and actions. This entertaining comic book offers different ways that can be reviewed repeatedly with students to teach them how to develop their own social detective skills.
Throughout the book, keywords are highlighted in bold. These keywords represent the Social Thinking vocabulary, concepts that can be used in just about every environment, by everyone in the process of discovering social thinking. The words are also fully defined for easy reference in the back of the book. Kids can read this themselves but it is best when adults read it with them, so that adults learn the social thinking vocabulary with the kids and then work to help the kids explore these concepts in their daily lives when the book is closed. This book is also the first book to read with students prior to introducing the Superflex lessons, as it teaches the core Social Thinking Vocabulary.” (Ages 4-13)
(You are a Social Detective! Explaining Social Thinking to Kids written by Michelle Garcia Winners and Pamela Crooke. Illustrated by Kelly Knopp ©2008 All Rights Reserved.)
Social Thinking Website
