Social Thinking conceptualizes autism and other conditions
in a traditional way. As it turns out, much of the traditional
conceptualization of conditions is highly inaccurate. It also makes many
assumptions without sufficient basis. Social Thinking claims to help with
self-awareness, but tells you how you are, more than it invites you to
introspect. It may lead to students believing they are a certain way when they
are not, especially those who have not figured out their identity yet.
Social Thinking assumes we do social thinking all the time,
even when alone, saying that everything people do requires social thinking. MGW
says we have to do this when reading novels and watching TV shows, which are
activities she does in her alone time. However, they are not the only things
you can do in your free time. When I think about physics or try to solve math
problems, as I like to do, I rarely think about other people when doing this.
Social Thinking says you have to figure out people’s intentions when doing more
abstract math (Winner, n.d.), but really, you just have to pay attention to
numbers, variables, and logic. It also assumes everyone’s purpose in life is to
avoid other people’s “weird thoughts”. However, I consider my purpose of life
to be finding the truth, and if you ask other people what their purpose in life
is, you will get a variety of answers.
Social Thinking assumes non-speaking autistics are
intellectually impaired (Winner, Crooke, & Madrigal, 2011). However, many
intelligence tests put emphasis on verbal intelligence. If they are given an
alternative way to communicate or are given an intelligence test that is
visual, the results will usually say otherwise. In fact, it goes so far to say
that “low-functioning” and “moderate-functioning” autistics are incapable of
meta-cognition. However, if you look at the writings of people who are given
those labels such as Amy Sequenzia, Mel Baggs, Carly Fleischmann, and Donna
Williams, you will find that they are very self-aware.
Social Thinking assumes that if someone says they don’t
desire friends, they just don’t understand and that they don’t realize that
they actually do desire social interaction. However, schizoids, one of the
types of people Social Thinking considers to have “social-cognitive deficits”,
genuinely have little to no desire for friends.
Social Thinking works from the assumption that students care
about how other people think about them, and base their self-worth on how other
people treat them. That means it won’t work for people who are not like that.
Social Thinking assumes that a student who is defiant or
says they don’t care is being attention seeking. However, someone may refuse to
do something because they realize it can mean leaving their needs unfulfilled. The
person who refuses could very well be someone who doesn’t care much about
people paying attention to them, or someone who is overwhelmed when in the
center of attention (for the record, I usually look for other reasons besides
“it is expected” before doing something, and I do get overwhelmed when in the
center of attention). Also, those who say they don’t care may truly not care.
The Social Thinking-Social Communication profile describes a
category called “The Resistant Social Communicator” (RSC) (Winner, Crooke, &
Madrigal, 2011). The description claims that they are being attention-seeking
when they say that they don’t care how they make others think and feel and
complain to others that they are misunderstood. But what if they really don’t
care and are complaining because they are accused of attention-seeking when
they say what they really feel (especially since they act like they didn’t want
attention)? What is interesting about the description is that it describes a
lot of characteristics that occur in gifted children. They sometimes act like
class clowns, have a need for recognition, are critical of others, expect others
to follow their rules, desire to be accepted by peers, have a sense of humor
that can often be not understood, are logical thinkers, and often get ODD and
bipolar diagnoses. Considering that there are RSC children who have above average
intelligence, they might well be gifted, especially since they are very sweet
when they connect positively and they believe their intentions are good.
Social Thinking assumes that those with social anxiety have
a social radar so highly developed that they interpret information in an
exaggerated way. However, those with social anxiety usually focus more on their
own embarrassment than what people are actually thinking about them (though
they may develop it in response to being insulted).
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