Pediatric Pioneers Episode 21: Social Detectives: How Do We Make Sense of the Social World?

In this episode, host Nicole Quint, PhD, DrOT, OTR/L, joins Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP, founder of the Social Thinking Methodology, to re-examine the foundations of pediatric social learning. Michelle challenges the traditional clinical focus on “eye contact,” advocating instead for “thinking with your eyes” to help clients move from simple observation to true perspective-taking. You’ll learn how to implement dynamic assessments and use “Social Detective” strategies to bridge the gap between a child's internal passions and the external social world. Finally, Michelle reveals how the “guardrails” of screen time contribute to modern social anxiety and why clinicians must help educators see the social mind as the essential fabric for academic and reading comprehension.Learning OutcomesAnalyze the evidence around the role of joint attention as a foundational social learning concept and skillApply evidence-based, practical strategies to actionably address the development of social attention by teaching clients to “thinking with your eyes” and become “Social Detectives” to make smart guesses about the environmentSolve patient case scenarios involving neurodevelopmental differences such as ASD and ADHD, as well as screen-time-related social delays, by using structured observations and video modeling to improve group participation and perspective-takingTimestamps(00:00:00) Welcome(00:00:05) Introduction to Social Thinking and its origins (00:02:48) The development of Social Thinking methodology (00:05:57) Understanding “thinking with your eyes” (00:08:40) The importance of joint attention (00:11:50) Dynamic assessment in social skills (00:18:35) The role of social skills in adult life (00:21:07) The impact of joint attention on learning (00:23:10) Metacognition and social understanding (00:26:30) Recent research on joint attention (00:33:00) Translating Social Thinking into practice (00:35:30) The impact of screen time on social skills (00:40:50) Integrating social skills in therapy sessions (00:46:25) Actionable strategies for therapists (00:53:00) Educating adults on social skills (00:58:18) The future of pediatric therapyPediatric Pioneers is brought to you by Medbridge. If you’d like to earn continuing education credit for listening to this episode and access bonus takeaway handouts, log in to your Medbridge account and navigate to the course where you’ll find accreditation details. If applicable, complete the post-course assessment and survey to be eligible for credit. The takeaway handout on Medbridge gives you the key points mentioned in this episode, along with additional resources you can implement into your practice right away.To hear more episodes of Pediatric Pioneers, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.medbridge.com/pediatric-pioneers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you’d like to subscribe to Medbridge, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.medbridge.com/pricing/⁠