WELCOME! Of Social Competency. Using Social Thinking and. Social Thinking and. the UCLA PEERS Program 5/1/2017. My Background/ Who Am I?

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1 Social Thinking and the UCLA PEERS Program Joan Storey Gorsuch, M.Ed. Social Champaign Champaign, Illinois WELCOME! THE And Using Social Thinking and the UCLA PEERS Program Of Social Competency.com Joan Gorsuch, BFA, M.Ed. Social Thinking Trained and Peers certified Provider Peers and Social Thinking groups in Champaign-Urbana/Autism Program Based on concepts developed by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson UCLA PEERS Michelle Garcia Winner for Social Thinking My Background/ Who Am I? BFA, Master s degree in Special Education, Learning and Behavior Specialist, Social Thinking Trained UCLA PEERS Certified Provider University of Illinois TAP Son diagnosed with PDD-NOS My best Professor! 1

2 Friends! There Must Be a Way- A Scientific Formula Came across this program Several years ago after talking with my student I was aware of PEERS but had not investigated. When I did, I liked what I saw! There Must be a Way- A Scientific Formula Friendship algorithm From Shelden Big Bang Theory You Tube Video Clip There Must be a Way- A Scientific Formula Most of you Understand Social Thinking Overview of PEERS Program PEERS Program- Program for the Evaluation and Enrichment of Relational Skills for Socially Motivated Students! 16 week Parent Assisted Program focusing on teens, and young adults who are having trouble making and keeping friends. Social Goal : Is to make and keep friends. Created by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson and Dr. Fred Frankel from UCLA. Evidence Based Practice! Overview of PEERS CONCEPTS: Trading information and FINDING COMMON INTERESTS Conversation Skills : Entering & Exiting Conversation Bullying and Changing a Reputation Good Sportsmanship And Using Humor the right way Handling rejection, rumors & gossip, and disagreements Having Get-togethers 2

3 Parents become Social Coaches! We do this anyway! Believe that continued gains come from parent involvement! We run 2 groups simultaneously- Parent Group and Student Group! In collaboration with U of I Dept of Psychology. WOW! THESE KIDDOS COULD USE SOME SOCIAL THINKING! Fill in the gaps- Think about what we expect from others. and how our behaviors affects others. What is expected or unexpected in this context? How do I want to be perceived? What is my PR campaign? PEERS VOCABULARY- WORDS! Trading Information Sharing the conversation Two-Way Conversations Find Common Interests Slipping into a group Slipping out of a group Rules for humor Having Get-togethers! Target Friendships as an Intervention Predicts later adjustment in life! Can help with students ability to handle stressful events Correlates positively with self-esteem Correlates negatively with depression and anxiety Life Course Outcomes-AJ Drexel University Autism Institute s Life Course Outcomes Research Project Work of Dr. Paul Shattuck at Drexel Universityleading the way. Many of the outcomes for people on spectrum are still not great. While Drexel University is leading the way- they still don t have enough information to figure what is needed to do to change the outcomes. Life Course Outcomes Drexel University Autism Institute Approximately one in four young adults with autism are socially isolated. They do not see or talk with friends and were not invited to social activities within the past year. (National Autism Indicators Report, 2016) WE DON T HAVE THAT KIND OF TIME!!!!!!! 3

4 Life Course Outcomes- Drexel Nearly one in three young adults had no community participation in the past year no volunteer or community service activities, no lessons or classes or other community activities outside of school. (NAIR, 2015) Life Course Outcomes -Drexel One-third of youth on the autism spectrum participate in community social activities with their peers. This is a significantly lower rate than that of their peers with other types of disabilities. In about every area autistic people rank the lowest! Life Course Outcomes- Drexel Data suggests that participating in extracurricular activities in high school improves the likelihood of a smooth transition for adolescence to adulthood. Necessity of Friendship (National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 DATA) Although work is rewarding, most humans are fulfilled by social time. Individuals with autism struggle with social competence, especially friendship skills. MY OPINION: If we could improve employment statistics, we could improve other life goals. Employment, access to health care, community/friend involvement. Where do we all get these important components to OUR lives? Social Challenges in People with ASD Poor social and self awareness! Poor eye contact Difficulty understanding social cues Consequences of Social Challenges Peer Conflict Poor quality of Friendships Lack of close reciprocal friendship 4

5 Consequences of Social Challenges Social Neglect and isolation- withdrawn Not engaging others socially Can cause anxiety and depression Socially Isolated kids- NEGLECTED! Consequences of Social Challenges Unsuccessful at engaging others socially ADHD and impulse control Peers tell them to go away- REJECTED! Many Students with Autism Have Less Quality Friendships Less playdates Less security within Friendships Less help from friends Students with autism are 9 x more likely to be bullied! Virtually Every Student I Work With Wants Friends and Companionship! But what it takes to make and keep friends is a tremendous amount of skills! Social Thinking: Explode the social code Break it into bits and help students reconstruct! In Peers: The Thought is Similar PEERS : Social Skills taught much in the way we teach math or science- Break down complex social skills into concrete rules and steps of social behavior, we can demystify and decode the art form of social skills. Even in Art- We Use Building Blocks 5

6 Put it Together with What we Know in our Brains! ART FORM Comes from Social Attention- thinking with your eyes! Gathering information = Social Input Interpretation Problem Solving Influences Social Output = Art Form! SOCIAL COMPETENCE Overall ability to interact appropriately in a variety of social situations Learn to read social environments. Think flexibly to know when and where to use skills. Social Skills are a Part of Learning Social Competence Social Skills are a subset: The ability to perform a list of discrete interactions appropriate to one social situation. Good Conversations: Critical to Social Success-Teens Young Adults Older students interaction initiated and sustained through conversations. Friendships and romantic relationships are formed and maintained around meaningful communication. 6

7 First Step of PEERS : Trading Information Ask someone about him or herself ask about interests, hobbies, weekend activities! Share related information about you! Simple questions like : What have you been you up to? Can provide lots of information. 4 Steps of Communication How can you do this without the FIRST STEP of COMMUNICATION? Think about the other person: What do you know about them? What do they think? How do they feel? What context are you in? Think about Person, Physical Proximity, Shift Into Direct Eye Contact Use Your language by TRADING INFORMATION Ask the other person about him/her self. Answer your own question! Share the Conversation! GOAL: To Find Out if we have Common Interests What can you do with this information? Talk further or hang out! Your Goal: To Find Common Interests! Many students don t do this! Perseverate on their own interests. Quite capable of trading info and finding common interests-they just don t think about doing this! Ask Follow Up Questions & Add a Thought! Follow Up Questions: Are those questions we ask on a specific topic to keep the conversation going. Add a Thought: People often respond to others simply by adding their own thoughts and experiences to what someone else has said. 7

8 PEERS: Share the Conversation This is how we trade information and get to know one another~ Our goal: when trading information is to find common interests. Great Teaching Strategy : Conversation Tree! By MGW Trading Information helps to create a Friend/People FILE Just as in Social Thinking in PEERS we work on finding what we have in common and building on that! FRIEND FILE is a great tool to Work with PEERS students. You Tube Video Clip SOCIAL ERRORS: Conversation Hog Social Errors: Don t Be An Interviewer SHARE THE CONVERSATION! ANSWER YOUR OWN QUESTIONS! SOCIAL ERRORS: Don t Get Too Personal at First! TEACH: THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM It takes time to develop a friendship or relationship! Assess Their Interest- (PEERS) Maintain 4 Steps of Communication Are they facing you? Are they looking at you? Are they talking to you? Remember: Your body position also implies if you want to talk to them. It is important to understand that we actively read the physical presence of others to determine their intentionseven if we are not communicating with them! 8

9 Help Students Facilitate Development of Perspective Taking The other person recognizes you as in individual when you are close to them. They are having a thought about you. They form an impression of you. If you have met the person before, they recall the memory, negative or positive. Just like you are having thoughts about them. We can monitor and adjust behavior. Ecologically Validated Social Skill We want to teach REAL WORLD SKILLS Ecological validity - An ecologically valid social skill is what people who are socially accepted would naturally do. We actually teach what people who are socially accepted do in these real world situations. Ecologically Valid Social Skill for Joining a Group! Students have often been told to go up and introduce themselves. They re also told to go up to a group and say Hi. FOR REAL??? That s not really what kids who are socially accepted are naturally doing. Slipping Into a Conversation Teach Them to Slip In Using Props, Eavesdrop, and Find COMMON INTERESTS DON T POUNCE! Use the slow approach to slip into the conversation Use the 4 steps of Communication. Listen for common interests & topic Join if you know something to add about the topic. Normalize this: 50 % of time we try to enter a conversation it doesn t work! 9

10 Finding COMMON INTERESTS are the Key to Making and Keeping Friends! Slipping Out or Exiting a Conversation Give a cover story. Keep your cool! Look Away- Casually stop eye contact. Turn away- Casually turn body away. Walk away-casually and calmly. Rules For Humor TEACH TO NOT BE A WAS FUNNY ONCE!!!!!!! Be serious when you are first getting to know someone! Do not repeat jokes. Humor should be age- appropriate Avoid insult jokes Avoid inside jokes Avoid dirty jokes Think about rather it is the right time to tell a joke Pay attention to your humor feedback Choosing Appropriate Friends- GEEKS Identifying a Peer Group & Common Interests SKATEBOARDERS VS. MATH GEEKS Identifying a Peer Group and Finding Common Interests- to move up the Friendship Pyramid! Gamers Drama Club Having Get-Togethers In PEERS, we focus on teaching students how to organize and implement a get-together! It is their homework for many weeks! Socially accepted teens have frequent and successful get togethers! Teens turn school acquaintances into friends by spending time outside of the school setting. This is the way to help our students move up the FRIENDSHIP PYRAMID. 10

11 Rules for having Get-Togethers to Move Up the Friendship Pyramid Learning the skills necessary to be successful at having get - togethers is particularly important to help our students make and keep friends! 77.2% of get togethers play video games! Must practice skills while we are teaching! or skills are unlikely to get used! 6 BFF 5 Bonded Friendship- Get togethers! 4 Evolving Friendship- Have Get-togethers 3 Possible Friendship-Share conversations, hang out through common interests 2 Acquaintances-Trade information- Goal is to find common interests! 1 Friendly Greetings- Find activities through your interestsjoin clubs, extracurricular activities- Find sources for friends! Level 1 Friendly Greeting: Find sources for friends through interests. Join clubs & extracurricular activities. LEVEL 2 Acquaintances- Trade information- Goal is to find common interests. Finding the right social group will vary depending on hobbies and interests! If student has a bad reputation at school, may need to find groups in community. Level 3- Share Conversations, Text Each Other, Class Projects, Slip into Conversations Level 4- Evolving Friendship- Hang out through Common Interests Having Get-togethers at home or through common interests. Make plans to do things together on weekends. We teach steps for successful get-togethers. Homework!!! 11

12 Level 5- Bonded Friendship- Having Get-Togethers all the time! Talk more personally Share secrets and feelings Get together after school and on weekends! Level 6-Very Close Friendship Hang out all the time. Plan to spend weekends. Talk about personal feelings. Hang out with them and Other friends of theirs. Changing a Bad Reputation- Same Way Movie Stars Do It! Long and Hard but it can be Done! Lay Low. Don t draw attention to yourself- give reputation time to die down. Follow the crowd. TRY TO FIT IN! Do not stand out in an unusual way. Change your look to change your reputation. Change clothes, hairstyle, glasses. (Will bring up your bad look!) Own up to your previous reputation: (Will call you out!) Find a new group. Based on common interests. Helping Our Students Learn to Fit In Can have Significant Long Term Impact Can make students feel like: I Got this!! Increase Confidence, Self Esteem! And Can be an IMPORTANT step To Help Improve Social Competence! THE ART and SCIENCE OF BEING SOCIAL! Joan Storey Gorsuch, M.Ed. 12