CAN4GCA START Coaches Newsletter
October 2016
Theory of Mind
Typical children, especially after the age of five years, are remarkably astute at perceiving and understanding social cues that indicate thoughts and feelings. (Michelle Garcia, 11-08). Parents nor educators teach these skills - Parent and educators only notice when these skills are not present. The lack of these skills makes students and adults uncomfortable.
Common challenges related to Theory of Mind deficits:
- Lack of the prioritization of social skills
- Lack of a mental theory
- Difficulty explaining own behaviors
- Difficulty understanding emotions
- Difficulty predicting how others feel or think
- Problems understanding the perspectives of others
- Problems inferring the intentions of others
- Difficulty understanding fact vs. fiction
- Failure to understand that behavior impacts how others think and/or feel
- Problems with social conventions such as turn-taking, politeness, and social space
- Difficulty with the concept of winning/losing
- Difficulty engaging in manipulation
- Difficulty engaging in lying
Due to these deficits, explicit teaching regarding how to understand the emotions of others and how to problem solve in social situations is a necessity. Strategies such as visuals, role-play, or social narratives to remind individuals with ASD about emotional states or appropriate behaviors can be useful.
Strategies to support Theory of Mind development
Comic Strip Conversations - Comic strip conversations provide visual representations of the different levels of communication that take place in a conversation, using symbols, stick figure drawings and color. By seeing the different elements of a conversation presented visually, some of the more abstract aspects of social communication (such as recognizing the feelings and intentions of others) are made more 'concrete' and are therefore easier to understand. Comic strip conversations can also offer an insight into how a person with autism perceives a situation.
Other strategies to help develop Theory of Mind:
Teach emotions - Explicitly teach the vocabulary of emotions. In the moment, talk about how friends feel: when hurt, when a toys is taken away from them, or when a picture made in the art center is torn. Use the language “He/She feels ______, because ________”. Teaching empathy is a large step in understanding the perspective of others and developing theory of mind.
Role playing - Pretend play and taking on roles is another excellent way to begin to develop theory of mind. By becoming another person or character, you create opportunity to talk about how the person thinks and feels separate from the child’s own thoughts.
Read Picture Books - Reading books (both fiction and non fiction) offers many opportunities to talk about what the characters might be feeling and thinking. Examine the pictures in picture books, talk about thoughts that are explicitly stated, but also work on making inferences about what characters might be thinking.
Think out loud - Model for your child/student that your own thoughts might be different from his/hers by thinking out-loud. Find opportunities where your thoughts differ and share these with your child/student.
Predict - Practice predicting what others might be thinking. Cut out pictures from magazines and create and fill in speech bubbles. Talk about what the person is thinking based upon the details of the picture. You can also discuss what you or your child would have been thinking in the same circumstance.
Talk it out - Discuss real life social situations openly with your child/student including differences in opinion, misunderstandings, as well as teasing.
Genesee County START Trainings
November 21, 2016 Self Management
December 2, 2016 Aspergers Syndrome
To register for these and other trainings offered at the GISD please go to http://catalog.geneseeisd.org/ The above listed trainings are listed under the Special Education tab.
Mark Your Calendar - Coaches Training
More information to come.
START Annual Conference - Integrated Supports Through the Lifespan
May 1, 2017 in East Lansing
ASD Teacher Consultant Contact Information
Amy Chorley
Barb Olszewski