The Social Express™ is engaging, educational software for children and young adults with social learning challenges. The software is designed to teach users how to think about and manage social situations, helping them to develop meaningful social relationships and succeed in life.
Some of the core concepts presented are based on the work of Michelle Garcia Winner and her Social Thinking® curriculum. More information can be found on the Social Thinking® website, www.socialthinking.com. Users are encouraged to learn more about Michelle’s work to gain the full benefit from the program.
The Social Express is based on best practices and programs that feature cognitive behavioral techniques and visual strategies including Social Stories (Gray, 2002), Comic Strip Conversations (Gray ,1994), the Alert Program (Williams & Shellenberger, 1996), The Incredible 5 Point Scale (Buron & Curtis, 2003), The Hidden Curriculum (Myles, Trautman and Schelvan, 2004), Thinking about YOU Thinking about ME (Winner, 2007) and other professionals working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The activities presented in the software adhere to California State Board of Education Content Standards and the Common Core Standards.
How Can The Social Express Help?
The Social Express is a tool that can help children and young adults with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, ADHD, nonverbal learning disabilities, pragmatic language deficits or other social learning challenges.
The Social Express…
● Presents fundamental skills needed to become socially competent
● Integrates many components including: hidden rules, Social Thinking® concepts, video modeling, self-regulation, and problem solving to help the user and adult “put it all together”
● Uses a visual representation of ideas to help with the understanding of auditory information
● Provides modeling of both positive and negative outcomes
● Allows for multiple responses with different outcomes
● Presents teaching tips to assist the adult working with the user to expand on each lesson
● Provides printables for generalization of the presented skills