I am excited to be a member of the Social Thinking® Blogging Team and I have the pleasure of being able to attend the 2013 Social Thinking Conference in South San Francisco June 21-23rd, thanks to the folks at Social Thinking. I’d love to share with you all a little about this conference and what it is all about! This post also contains affiliate links to Amazon.Â
What is Social Thinking®?
Social Thinking is a teaching framework for individuals aged preschool through adult, created by Michelle Garcia Winner, CCC-SLP( www.socialthinking.com ). It consists of a Social Thinking Vocabulary that establishes a common language to discuss social functioning, curriculum lessons and strategies that break down social concepts into concrete, teachable formats, and the Social Thinking-Social Communication Profile, a tiered informal assessment tool that helps educators and clinicians better understand different levels of social cognition and match teaching strategies to the social strengths and challenges of the individual. Social Thinking “explodes the social code” to help children and adults learn to be better social thinkers and social communicators.
I have been using MGW’s Social Thinking Framework in practice with children aged 3 through middle school for about 7 years now. If you work with children with social-cognitive disabilities, I HIGHLY recommend the Social Thinking Framework.
You can read more about the Social Thinking Framework HERE.
What is the Social Thinking® Providers Conference?
According to the website: “The Providers Conference is a time for practitioners of Social Thinking, nationally and internationally, to come together to learn, share ideas and network. As the “Social Thinking movement†grows the hope is for attendees to gain knowledge and not have to “reâ€create the wheel†as they develop practical programs and services allowing them to expand upon what others have shared.”
What is the Purpose of the Conference?
According to the website:
- Encourage professionals who are running Social Thinking® programs both in schools and private practice settings to come together to network, brainstorm and problem solve the delivery of Social Thinking services.
- Report on research projects currently in progress or that have been completed.
- Provide a means for sharing new and diverse topics related to Social Thinking® and the treatment of individuals with social learning challenges.
- Provide an opportunity for professionals, individually or in teams to share their unique diagnostic, treatment or service delivery models related to Social Thinking®.
- Share new data collection or qualitative assessment methods to assist professionals and students on the application of teaching Social Thinking concepts.
When is the conference?
Join us June 21, 22 & 23, 2013 in South San Francisco!
What is the Itinerary and Cost? How can I register? How Can I Learn More?
You can read all about the schedule of events at this three day conference as well as the cost and how to register by going to the Social Thinking Site.
What if I Can’t Make This Conference?
I realize not all of you will be able to make this conference. It will be summer vacation for many of you and may be taking the summer OFF. Or maybe you simply can’t get out to California! The good news, is that in October and November, there will be several conferences around the country put on by the folks at Social Thinking. Click on the link below to find out more about upcoming conferences in your area:
New York, NY Social Thinking Conference
Minneapolis, MN Social Thinking Conference
Boston, MA Social Thinking Conference
Philadelphia, PA Social Thinking Traveling Providers Conference
Atlanta, GA Social Thinking Conference
In addition, I will be blogging about the event after as well as posting on social media DURING the event, so be sure to be following along on Facebook and Twitter!
Want to Learn More about the Social Thinking Framework without Attending a Conference?
Well you are in LUCK! As a member of the Social Thinking Blogging Team I am thrilled to be providing you all with open and honest reviews and information about the Social Thinking Programs and Materials. In the next couple weeks, I will be starting with Michelle Garcia Winner’s book Thinking About You, Thinking About Me
So tell me, do you use Social Thinking in YOUR practice? How? Tell me all about it!
I use many of the resources from http://www.socialthinking.com. I love incorporating the vocabulary into my lessons and have begun going into some classrooms to share all the great tips I have learned from their resources!