SOCIAL THINKING

Zura Ramli
10 APR 2023
• Introduction
• Assessment
• Intervention
• Introduction
• Assessment
• Intervention
 What is Social Thinking?
• Developing social competencies by teaching implicit (abstract) social
concepts in an explicit (concrete) manner
• Teaching about the Social World to empower Social Learners to meet
their own social goals based on their own starting place
• 3 Aspects of Social Thinking
1. How does social learner function in the social world?
2. What can I teach this social learner about how the social world works?
3. How can social learner apply information to better navigate to regulate in
the social world?
A fit for some, not for all…
• 4 years to adulthood
• Solid/strong language & academic learning
• For those who ‘think about thinking’ & talks about ‘thoughts and
thinking’
• Neurodivergent and neurotypical
• If it’s not helpful, it’s not a good fit!
 Keywords
• Social world
• Social competencies
• Social learner
 Keywords
• Social world
• Social competencies
• Social learner
 What is the social world?
• It is where each of us interpret and respond to social information
• Social information can be:
• Felt or thought or sensed
• Spoken or unspoken
• Heard or not heard
• Seen or not seen
• Intentional or unintentional
• Hidden or clear
• Involving us or someone else
 This includes (not limited to):
• Sports
• Literature
The social world is active • Movies, TV, YouTube, Social Media
anytime we and/or others
have awareness of people • Driving a car, biking, walking
in context. • Face-to-face interactions online or
* Filled with constantly in person
shifting social landscapes • People watching, co-existing,
sharing space
Social World
• We ‘enter’ the social world through our social attention
• Social attention is not a behavior but it is a brain process
• Different people have different social attention
• Each person’s social world is uniquely impacted by dynamic internal
drivers and external forces

Internal
drivers

Social World
 Keywords
• Social world
• Social competencies
• Social learner
 Social Competencies Model
• Socially attend to
Attend
information

Interpre • Interpret to make

t meaning

Problem • To make decisions about

Solve responses

Respond • Create social responses

Social interpretation
Involves Self, Others, and Self & Others:
• World knowledge
• What is the situation?
• Who are the people?
• What are their intentions? CRITICAL
THINKING
• Basic emotions
• Self-conscious emotions
• Basic Theory of Mind
• Advanced, applied, spontaneous Theory of Mind
 • Situation + People + any other
Input details that help to inform

• Response (intellectual or social

Output behavioral)
Social Responses
• Social responses can be observed through:
• Social skills
• Social Language
• Group work
• Academic
• Vocational
• Engages in Social Cognitive Self-Regulation
• Continuous Self-evaluation & Social-evaluation
Other contributing factors:
• Sensory processing
• Possible anxiety & depression management
• Screen time overwhelm on portable devices (STOP)
 Keywords
• Social world
• Social competencies
• Social learner
 Social Learners
• To understand individual’s social communication style and what
supports they require
• Not for diagnosis
• To better inform our treatment plan/focus
• Based on their level of play skills (4 – 7yrs)
• Based on their Social Learning Styles (8yrs +)
Group Playing Problem Solving (GPS) Play
Levels
1. Level 1: ME
2. Level 2: ME + YOU
3. Level 3: ME to WE
4. Level 4: WE
5. Level 5: Shared Collaborative Imaginative Play (SCIP)

NOTES:
• Not intended to be diagnostic or a prognostic tool.
• Means of observing and categorizing play
• Help with planning intervention and celebrating progress
with realistic expectations!
Group Playing Problem Solving (GPS) Play Levels

ME Play Level 1
• Play is very singular and is object or action focused. Tends to play alone. They
will attend to an adult who actively seeking their attention

ME + YOU Play Level 2

• Play is still quite singular but children will attempt to engage the adult to play
their way. With a lot of work on the part of the adult, the child will briefly
attend to a peer during play
ME to WE Play Level 3
• Adult directs the play, providing the structure, ideas, and context. Peers take a
role and enact the play within that structure
Group Playing Problem Solving (GPS) Play Levels

WE Play Level 4
• With minimal adult facilitation (providing props, materials, and initial
ideas), peers can begin to create structured play together. Adults may
step in to resolve conflicts and keep play moving along

SCIP Play Level 5

• Shared Collaborative Imaginative Play. Peers provide ideas, decide on a
theme, problem solve on their own. Low adult facilitation, if any
Social Thinking-Social Communication/Characteristics
Summary (ST-SCS)
1. Significantly Challenged Social Communicator
2. Pre-emerging Social Communicator
3. Emerging Social Communicator
4. Nuanced Challenged Communicator
5. Neurotypical Social Communicator
 Social attention and social interpretation as a radar system
NOTE: this is not in reference to verbal or nonverbal IQ or academics
Notices, attends
to and
interprets social
information

Struggles to
notice, attend,
and interprets
social
information
Social Thinking-Social Communication/Characteristics Summary (ST-SCS)

Well-developed
social competencies
Solid interpreters of
language. Solid social
Literal interpreters, attention, social self-
challenges with social awareness, difficulty
attention, social self- understanding
Very literal
awareness. May have others’ perspectives.
interpreters. Critical
solid language and
thinking, problem
critical thinking in
solving, social
sciences
attention, and theory NSC
of mind are
significantly impacted
Very, very literal and NCC
often shows cognitive
and language-based ESC
challenges
PESC
SCSC
• Introduction
• Assessment
• Intervention
 Dynamic Assessment
• Exploring ideas to assess social competencies
• Assessing social pragmatic abilities which require rapid synergistic
and dynamic processing and responses to social information
• Determining one’s social competencies in the here and now
• Definition:
• Refers to an assessment, by an active teaching process, of a child’s
perception, learning, thinking, and problem solving
Goals of Dynamic Assessment
A. Assess the capacity of the child to assess the principle underlying an
initial problem (ability to problem solve)
B. Assess the nature and amount of investment (teaching) that is
required to teach a child a given rule or principle
C. Identify the specific cognitive functions (i.e., systematic exploratory
behavior) and non-intellective factors (i.e., need for mastery) that
are responsible for weakness in performance and how modifiable
they are as a result of teaching
 Dynamic Assessment vs
Standardized Assessments
Assessment Process
• Assessing abstract elements of social communication and language
without depending on formalized test
• To describe and figure out individual’s social communicative
competencies within the real time contexts in which they co-exist,
learn, work and communicate
• No discrete starting and stopping point – getting a sense of the
individual prior to meeting them, reviewing past reports, if available
• Also actively aware of that person in context during all the time you
are observing, co-existing, or interacting with them
Components of Dynamic Assessments
• No wrong answers
• What type of scaffolding needed?
• What type of verbal and non-verbal cues needed?
• How long does the tasks take?
• What might this information tell us about this individual’s abilities
across context?
• What are the individuals’ executive functions observed throughout
the assessment process?
Executive Functions
• 10 basic executive functions
1. Recognizing one’s goal
• The social mind 2. Impulse control
requires the same 3. Emotional Awareness
executive functions as 4. Flexible Thinking
those needed to do 5. Working Memory
assignments, and
these functions 6. Planning & prioritizing
evolving across our 7. Task Initiation
lives 8. Mental Time Travel
9. Perspective taking
10. Self-regulation of feelings/behaviors
Example of DA tasks:
• Wordless pictures book
• ‘Not a box’ – flexible thinking, shared imagination
• Think with your eyes
• Social Sequencing Pictures
• Fill out a form
• Double interview
• Social scenario pictures
• Generate a story based on video clip
• Examining peer-based collaboration and play
Examining peer-based collaboration and
play
• 6 guiding questions
1. Do they seek peers or adults as a play partner in interactive play?
2. How do they use language during play?
3. How do they engage with objects or play materials during
interactive play?
4. What type of pretend play do they use when interacting with peers?
5. How flexible do they shift play based on others’ ideas during
interactive play?
6. How well do they problem solve during interactive play?
From Assessment to teaching….
• During the dynamic assessments, FOLLOW THEIR LEAD
• Attend to what they’re interested in to build rapport and trust, prior
to give them specific tasks to focus on
• If they want to talk about friendship, can explore more what they
understand about friendship
• If they reluctant to participate or say they don’t care – The I don’t
Care scale
• Use stress scale to understand their struggles
• Let them name their feelings using the emotions scale
• Introduction
• Assessment
• Intervention
Before we continue….
• Thinking about our own thoughts and feelings  Metacognition
• Thinking about others’ thoughts and feelings and how they think
about our own thoughts and feelings  Social Metacognition
Social Thinking Teaching Journey
What do I bring to
this journey?

Who is this
What frameworks person and how
& strategies fit? do I relate to
them?

Reflect, Rethink, Gather

What is their
What are other
Social Learning
considerations?
Style?

What Goal or
problem(s) are we
solving for?
Social Thinking Teaching Journey
What do I bring to
this journey?

Who is this
What frameworks person and how
& strategies fit? do I relate to
them?

Reflect, Rethink, Gather

What is their
What are other
Social Learning
considerations?
Style?

What Goal or
problem(s) are we
solving for?
What do I bring to the Who is the person and how
journey? to relate with them?
• What are my • How do I learn about this
assumptions based on person?
my experiences, my • Am I taking perspectives or
training, my trauma, or getting perspectives?
my personal beliefs? • Do I understand their learning
• Diagnosis? strengths and struggles?
• Biases? • Getting information prior the
• Expertise? session (i.e., reports, class
observations) can help or
hinder teaching process
 Who is the person and how to
relate with them?

• Building blocks of typical

preschool social
development
 Initiation of
I
Language

Listening with ears, eyes,

L
and brain

Abstract and inferential

A
thinking

Understanding
U
perspectives

Getting the big picture

G
(Gestalt processing)

Humour & human

H
relatedness
Social Thinking Teaching Journey
What do I bring to
this journey?

Who is this
What frameworks person and how
& strategies fit? do I relate to
them?

Reflect, Rethink, Gather

What is their
What are other
Social Learning
considerations?
Style?

What Goal or
problem(s) are we
solving for?
 What is their social learning
ME Play Level 1
style?
Group Playing Problem Solving (GPS) Play Level

• Play is very singular and is object or action focused. Tends to play alone. They will attend to an adult who actively
seeking their attention

ME + YOU Play Level 2

• Play is still quite singular but children will attempt to engage the adult to play their way. With a lot of work on the
part of the adult, the child will briefly attend to a peer during play

ME to WE Play Level 3
• Adult directs the play, providing the structure, ideas, and context. Peers take a role and enact the play within that
structure

WE Play Level 4
• With minimal adult facilitation (providing props, materials, and initial ideas), peers can begin to create structured
play together. Adults may step in to resolve conflicts and keep play moving along

SCIP Play Level 5

• Shared Collaborative Imaginative Play. Peers provide ideas, decide on a theme, problem solve on their own. Low
adult facilitation, if any
Social Thinking-Social Communication/Characteristics Summary (ST-SCS)

Well-developed
Solid interpreters of social competencies
language. Solid social
Literal interpreters, attention, social self-
challenges with social awareness, difficulty
attention, social self- understanding
Very literal
awareness. May have others’ perspectives.
interpreters. Critical
solid language and
thinking, problem
critical thinking in
solving, social
sciences
attention, and theory NSC
of mind are
significantly impacted
Very, very literal and NCC
often shows cognitive
and language-based ESC
challenges
PESC
SCSC
Social Thinking Teaching Journey
What do I bring to
this journey?

Who is this
What frameworks person and how
& strategies fit? do I relate to
them?

Reflect, Rethink, Gather

What is their
What are other
Social Learning
considerations?
Style?

What Goal or
problem(s) are we
solving for?
 What goal or problem(s) are we solving?
• Sometimes social goals are clearly stated, “I want to make friends in
my new school”
• Sometimes it is not clear, “Why won’t Ayra play with me?”
• Sometimes social goals are personal and sometimes they are formed
by group expectations
• Asking them and clarifying with them
• Making progress towards one’s social goal requires self-awareness,
self-reflection, and self-evaluation
It is not about producing social skills based on standard,
they are based on a person’s desire or need:

• Avoiding threats
• Co-existing for companionship
• Conflict resolution
• Organizing for school
• Participating
• Belonging
Social Thinking Teaching Journey
What do I bring to
this journey?

Who is this
What frameworks person and how
& strategies fit? do I relate to
them?

Reflect, Rethink, Gather

What is their
What are other
Social Learning
considerations?
Style?

What Goal or
problem(s) are we
solving for?
What are other considerations?
• Consider patterns across environments like:
• Awareness of others (when an adult is not
interacting with them)
• How they share an imagination
• Inferring social cues
• How they use language to relate (e.g., narrative, etc.) • Even more
• Anxiety, sensory, screen time overwhelm considerations:
• More considerations • Are they isolated?
• Developmental stage • Any negative inner
• Personality thoughts?
• Contexts (school, home, etc.) • Struggle to read
• Role (parents, child, etc.) intention?
• Executive function – self-regulation • Think everyone is
• Other environmental pressure their friend?
• Always start teaching at the place where the social learner can easily
learn
• Use available DOORWAYS to enter teaching (for example, but not
limited to):
• Do they have a unique talent or interests that might be motivating?
• Do they desire a friend?
• Do they want to avoid people?
• Do they seem inattentive and clueless?
• Do they reject adults and challenges authorities?
• Do they have academic struggles?
Social Thinking Teaching Journey
What do I bring to
this journey?

Who is this
What frameworks person and how
& strategies fit? do I relate to
them?

Reflect, Rethink, Gather

What is their
What are other
Social Learning
considerations?
Style?

What Goal or
problem(s) are we
solving for?
 Frameworks, Concepts, and Strategies
• Teaching is organized by:

How the social world How one navigates to regulate in

works the social world
Begin with teaching how the social world works to understand ME in the
social world
LEARNING

SELF-REGULATION

Then teach how to work in the social world

How the social world works
 Teaching Frameworks
• Social Thinking Vocabulary • Social Emotional Chain
Reaction
• Ask a Question/Add a
Thought • Four steps of
communication
• Size of the Problem Size of
the Emotion • 5 steps of being with others
• Boring Moments: We all • The friendship pyramid
have them • Social Behavior Mapping –
• 3 parts of play/activity GO
• Be a Detective
10 Core Vocabularies
1. Thoughts & Feelings
2. The Group Plan
3. Think with eyes
4. Body in the Group 6. Expected-Unexpected
Behaviors
5. Whole Body Listening
7. Smart Guess
8. Flexible & Stuck Thinking
9. Size of Problem
10. Sharing an Imagination
Ask a Question, Add a Thought
• Encourage them to think about their
thoughts
• Use thought bubbles to visualize the
thoughts
• World wonder questions vs Social
wonder questions
3 parts play/activity

Play/
Set Up Clean Up
Activity

• All concepts are taught through playful activities

• This is how children learn social information!
• Children are taught the “3 parts of play” to help them to learn the progression
through an activity
Size of Problem Size of Emotions
• Let the individuals to list down example of
problems they’ve experienced
• Guide them to compare the size of their
problems
• Compare with their reaction, how they
reacted and how they think should they react
• Acknowledging every emotions that they felt
with different problems they faced
• How they can solve those problems
accordingly
Surviving Boring Moments
• Allowing them to have those boring
moments
• Being bored is expected, as long as
you do things that are expected
• If you do the unexpected behavior,
that is when it becomes the problem
• Being bored is not the problem, how
you deal with the boredom
determine whether it is problematic
or not
Navigating and Regulating in Social
World to meet my Goals
 Teaching Frameworks
• The Zones of Regulation
• Feelings and Emotions Scale
• I Don’t Care Scale
• Things I like to Think about
• Be comfortable with Discomfort
• Ladder to Success
• Spiral of Failure
• Independence Mountain
• Solving Problems before they become problems
The ZONES of Regulation
Feelings & Emotions Scale
• Requires emotional awareness and flexibility
• Adding words to describe our feelings fosters metacognitive
awareness as well as sharing emotions with others
• Some individuals think their feelings only relate to when people get
really upset or really pleased
• The reality is that we ‘feel’ even we’re no furious or angry
• We have subtle feelings most of the time
• To self-regulate includes exploration of little shifts in our feeling self
 ti ve
si
Po

Neutral OK

Ne
ga
tiv
e
I Don’t Care Scale

• Helping them express their

thoughts by giving them
options to choose from
• Understanding the individuals
perspectives and provide
supports accordingly
• Turning abstract concept into
concrete manner
Things I like to Think about
• Increase awareness of the brain,
thoughts and things you like to
think about.
• Represent the abstract concept of
thoughts/thinking in a more
concrete way.
• Compare this with others in your
group or family
 3 Aspects of Social Thinking
1. How does social learner function in the social world?
2. What can I teach this social learner about how the social world works?
3. How can social learner apply information to better navigate to regulate in
the social world?
How to do it?
• Visual Teaching aids/Tools
• Story books
• Videos
• Make it into a game
• And many more…..
 • True. We can’t problem solve all the
“90% of what we
issues the children encounter.
do as • But we can equip them with as many
parents/teachers
is tolerating the tools as possible to understand…
fact that we can’t
immediately How the social world works and who they
solve the
problem”
are in it
- Dr
And
Jed Baker How to use what they’ve learned to navigate
to meet their own social goals