Social Thinking Program

The Michelle Garcia Winner Social Thinking program is designed to teach social-emotional concepts and skills to children who struggle with social communication and interaction.

The program’s philosophy is based on the idea that social thinking is a cognitive process that involves interpreting and responding to social cues and context. This approach, views social skills not just a set of behaviours to be learned and memorised, but rather a way of thinking about social situations and making sense of them.

The Social Thinking program uses a variety of teaching strategies, such as stories, visual aids, games, and role-playing, to help individuals develop a range of social-emotional competencies:

The weekly program covers the following:

> Developing Friendships: Building and maintaining meaningful connections with others.

> Conversation skills: Supporting all the elements of a conversation to facilitate effective communication and interactions with others

> Social awareness: Understanding social cues and nonverbal communication.

> Executive functioning: planning, organising, problem solving and thinking about one’s own social behaviour and communication

> Social communication: Learning to communicate effectively with others.

> Flexible thinking: Developing the ability to adapt to changing situations and contexts.

> Emotional self-regulation: recognising and managing one’s own emotions and responses to social situations

> Social problem-solving: Developing strategies for navigating social conflicts and challenges.

> Perspective-taking: understanding others’ thoughts, feelings, and intentions based on their context and social cues

These concepts are taught through a variety of interactive activities, including games, role-playing, and group discussions. Program includes mid and end of term individual progress notes.

Group 1: Age 5-7 years

Group 2: Age 8-11 years

Cost: $150 per week.

Duration: 45 minutes