October 2015 Presentation to Chester County Intermediate Unit Transition Coordinators meeting. dCen

1. Center for Social and
Executive Function Skills
Ryan Wexelblatt, MSS, LSW
www.socialef.com

2. The three areas I teach and who I work with
• Social Thinking® and emotional regulation skills
• Executive function skills
• Sexuality and relationship education for individuals who
present with social learning challenges
• Work is educational, not therapy
• Ages 11-21
• Aspergers, Higher-independence ASD profiles, ADHD

4. Key Strategies to Develop Executive Function Skills:
1. Teach the concept of time as something tangible that can be
felt.
2. Draw on past experiences/knowledge to plan/execute tasks
in the present (pre-imagining/future thinking skills).
3. Develop Situational Awareness (getting the big picture).

6. Why lists don’t work for many students with
executive function challenges:

8. What this picture look like to someone who has
difficulty with getting the big picture?
• Someone is working in that office because the light is on.
• Windows 7 is old, its up to Windows 10 now.
• My sister has Nivea in the bathroom.

10. Social-cognitive skills or social thinking skills
is the ability to think in a social context and
apply skills relevant to the situation in order
to ensure that others are thinking about us
positively.
If an individual has difficulty in the social realm this is a
learning issue, not a mental health issue. Traditional “talk
therapy” doesn’t resolve social learning challenges.

11. Common misconceptions about social skills
development:
•Students “pick up” social skills from being around
peers who have more developed social skills.
•Social skills need to be taught in a social skills group.
•Kids who struggle socially will grow out of it as they
mature.

12. The reality of social skills development:
• Improving social cognitive skills is a very slow process.
• If kids could improve social skills by being around
neurotypical peers then no one would have social learning
challenges.
• Maturity helps but doesn’t solve social learning
challenges.

13. The two foundational social cognitive skills to teach
individuals with social learning challenges:
1. Learn to think with our eyes to decode social information
(thinking with eyes)
2. Understand other’s thoughts, feelings, intentions
(perspective taking)

16. Puberty, sexuality and relationship education from a
social learning perspective

17. Students with social learning challenges need much more
comprehensive information around these topics:
• Basic biology/anatomy
• Expected/Unexpected behaviors during puberty.
• Appropriate internet/social media usage and safety.
• Understanding levels of trust and recognizing when others are taking
advantage of you.
• Understanding how romantic relationships develop.
• What constitutes an imbalanced relationship, verbal/emotional abuse
• Defining harassment and illegal behaviors.
“Safety to staying out of trouble”..

18. The nuts and bolts
• Meet in Bryn Mawr or Broomall (depending on day)
• Individual sessions: $75/hour $35/hour for travel
• School District trainings $100/hour
• Provider through the Adult Autism Waiver for individuals over 21
The work I use:
• Social Thinking (completed the clinical training program in 2011), 5 Point Scale, Zones of
Regulation
• Executive Function Skills-the work of Sarah Ward of Cognitive Connections
• Sexuality and relationship education-Based on the work of Dr. Isabelle Henault

19. Recent/Upcoming Presentations
The Skills Students Need to be Successful in College and the
Workforce
(Social Cognition, Executive Function, Age-expected Independence)
From Safety to Staying Out of Trouble – The Continuum of Sexuality
Education for Individuals Who Present with Higher-Independence
Autism Spectrum Diagnoses and Other Social Learning Challenges