What is Social Thinking® and Social Learning?
Social Thinking is the ability to consider your own and other people’s thoughts, emotions, intentions, beliefs, knowledge (and more) to help interpret and respond to the information mentally first and then possibly through social behavioral interactions. Basically, it is the thinking that we do when we share space with other people. When we use social skills, it really means we adapt our social behavior around the situation (we call that the “hidden social rules”) and the people in the situation (their thoughts) to get them to respond to us in the manner we had hoped they would.
Social Thinking® is a methodology of concepts, frameworks, strategies and lessons developed by Michelle Garcia Winner in California. In Social Learning at The Parish School, we use these specific Social Thinking® frameworks to help students understand hidden social rules, observe their social environment, read cues to figure out other people’s thoughts, feelings and intentions (also called perspective taking), and adapt their social behaviors around this information.
The Parish School offers a full Social Learning program developed from Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking® methodology.
1. Social Thinking® at The Parish School
Across The Parish School’s curriculum, classrooms implement Social Thinking® vocabulary and concepts in social and academic lessons. Our elementary and early childhood speech-language pathologists participate in frequent mentoring and professional development to ensure that the campus is effectively implementing Social Thinking® concepts.
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2. Social Learning Therapeutic Program at The Carruth Center
This program offers additional Social Thinking® services to Parish students and to children from throughout the Houston community. Services during the school year include Social Learning Groups during lunch time and after school to preschool through high school aged students. Summer social groups occur during the month of June to coincide with Camp Acorn. Individual social-cognitive therapy may be provided if appropriate. The Social Thinking® program benefits children with a wide variety of diagnoses as well as children with no diagnosis who have difficulty reading and responded to social cues. Learn more about this therapeutic program.
Renee Attaway Storer also serves as Camp Director for the two Social Learning sleep-away camps administered by The Carruth Center: Camp Superheroes for 8 to 12 year-olds, and Camp Connect for teens. Enrollment in these camps begins in late January. Please contact The Carruth Center for more information.
Social Learning Students Groups Offered
Social Learning groups based on Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking® methodology are available for children between the ages of 4 and 19. These groups meet for one hour weekly each semester during the school year with an additional optional program offered in the summer. Children who attend The Parish School receive additional push-in services in their classrooms so they can apply the Social Learning concepts learned in group to real situations. Our groups are carefully structured to include students of similar social communication levels and social needs, as well as age. A maximum of four students are accepted in most groups, although a few accept 5-6 students. We also offer individual therapy focusing on Social Thinking® concepts if that is determined to be the more appropriate setting for your child. Social Thinking® is most successful for children who have average to above average learning potential, solid language abilities, and an awareness of other children around them.
Steps for Enrollment in Social Learning Groups
1. Contact The Carruth Center at info@carruthcenter.org to initiate the application process and find out about available spots. Once we have your contact information we will send you the necessary paperwork to return to us so our Social Learning clinicians can know more about your child’s needs.
2. Schedule a Social Learning consultation with one of our Social Learning clinicians. For those children not enrolled at The Parish School, the fee for this consultation is $145.00/hour payable at the time of service. For those children enrolled at The Parish School, the cost of the consultation is covered by tuition. This consultation will take approximately 45 – 60 minutes. The cost of the consultation will be prorated to the amount of time spent with you and/or your child for the consultation.
3. Services will initiate once a group is found that meets your child’s social communication level and need. If we do not currently have a group that meets your child’s needs or the group we have is full, we will add you to our waitlist as well as give you the name of other providers who may be able to meet your child’s needs.
Contact Us
For more information on a consultation to determine if our groups are a good match for your child’s social needs, to enroll in a Social Learning Group, or to learn more about sleep-away camp, contact The Carruth Center at info@carruthcenter.org or 713.935.9088.