7/28/2024

A conversation with a potential client sparked a deeper reflection into the nature of social awareness. In my journey as an educator and social cognition specialist I honed in my skills in supporting students with social cognitive challenges. Understanding how their mind was wired was key in providing the more information needed for my students to develop social awareness and help them with learning how to navigate social situations. 

My client’s comment was simple, I had heard it many times from students, parents, educators, “everyone can benefit from Social Thinking™”. Shortly after, I traveled to Japan for an immersion experience sponsored by a university to explore current cultural and educational practices in Japan. The challenge was traveling with 20 adults with various personalities and needs within a structured and full, and I mean a very compacted schedule and navigating public transportation as a group. To add to the experience, Japan was in a record setting heat wave. 

As a sensitive and compassionate individual, I was overtly aware of limited social awareness of various individuals in the group. It was challenging for me to turn off my “social cognition teacher brain” and focus on my own experience. My tendency to take others’ behavior personally, really showed up on this trip. 

In my reflection I compared my experience with supporting individuals with autism. Their brain is not wired to automatically recognize other’s perspectives and or understand that other’s experiences are different from their own, but with instruction they can learn to read the context clues and adjust their behavior for better outcomes. 

For this group of neurotypical adults, some individuals struggled to show social awareness and consideration that other’s needs are different than their own. This experience provided me an opportunity for personal growth, to learn the lesson that when others are having difficulty navigating social interactions that it is about where they are in their journey and not about something that I am doing. I have done the work to understand my tendency to feel responsible for everyone, on this trip I fully experienced how it feels when others are taking on what is needed for the group instead allowing each person to be where they were and for each individual to be responsible for speaking up for what they need in the situation. Some in the group modeled this well and others struggled with this. It was an amazing experience exploring Japan, but the lessons learned will help me to be a better person. 

I have dedicated much of my career for teaching students with autism both self and social awareness and have much compassion for my students and their families for the challenges they experience. My focus has expanded as a health and wellness coach, as I discover how for many neurotypical students/adults it is their belief systems that drive their social interactions.  

So for my conversation with my client, yes everyone would benefit from Social Thinking™ instruction. The difference is students with autism need instruction in complex cognitive processes. For neurotypical individuals, their social awareness instruction begins with self discovery on their belief systems and knowing that each individual has different needs and developing positive communication skills that includes both self advocacy and grace for others to be where they are. We are all on a journey and in the words of Maya Angelou, “I have learned, people may forget what you say, they may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel”.

Categories: UncategorizedTags: adhd, asd, Autism, mental-health, neurodiversity