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TWO KEYS TO A GREAT MORNING WITH THE SOCIAL EXPRESS

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TWO KEYS TO A GREAT MORNING WITH THE SOCIAL EXPRESS

You know what I’ve been looking for lately? A recipe for a great morning! School days are just so chaotic with missed alarms, and learning skills like tying shoes and of course disagreements over what counts as breakfast. (What, mom?! Those cupcakes have protein, right?!)

Can we talk about this sweet boy for a second?

He is a social bug! He loves friends and makes them wherever he goes, whether they are 5 or 95! Earlier this year, we found out he has SPD, which is short for Sensory Processing Disorder. The icon for it is a rainbow-colored horse, because no two kids are the same! In Andrew’s case, it basically means that he has a hard time processing motion (excitement= lots of big motion here!) but it also effects his emotional regulation and ability to pick up on social cues (he has a super hard time with both!) Where most 7-year-olds would be fine with negotiating friends wanting to do something different, Andrew can get a little hands-on in trying to change the situation to what he wishes it were. It can get tricky sometimes, because expectations are high, and he doesn’t always meet those. I’m thankful for good friends, but still- it’s not alway easy for him or for us.
It’s something that makes your heart hurt as a parent, seeing your kiddo struggle with something that their peers do just naturally. I’ve been looking for some ideas to help Andrew be the best student and friend he can be, and to help our mornings go a little more smooth! (Sometimes we get a little distracted 🙂 )
Andrew’s therapist first recommended The Social Express to us. I think I was a little skeptical of anything really clicking for Andrew, but I’ve been happily proven wrong! See, they wanted to create a program for kids to make social learning easy for them. Our son is a visual learner. I could tell him to use his words, and not his hands, but it just goes right out the window in the moment. We needed a more visual solution. Enter inThe Social Express!

Interactive games are played with hints to help reinforce appropriate social interaction and reactions, plus videos like the one pictured above with two different choices to see the outcome.

I think the photos speak for themselves for his opinion!

He loves it! He asks to play often. It’s pretty cool to watch the wheels turning in his head to think through the scenarios. I can’t wait to talk to his teacher later this month to see if it’s been helping in the class. No behavior notes sent home yet so here is hoping! We do this in the morning before school so he has some clues to help remind him during sticky situations.

The parent dashboard makes it easy to adjust settings, track progress, and fully customize your child’s experience!

The child dashboard has access to game room and webisodes, both of which are fully interactive!

It’s also award-winning several times over including a Readers Top 100 Product and a Common Sense Media Learning Award!

Some of the best benefits include how to
● Identify feelings in others
● Understand the importance of “eye contact” (thinking with your eyes) in order to figure out what to say or do in social situations
● Read non-verbal social cues
● Identify appropriate coping strategies
● Sequence situations and infer what will come next
● Watch social situations unfold and see how behavior can have negative or positive consequences

Head over here to see how you can get started! They even have an app!

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The Social Express Wins a 2014 ON for Learning Award from Common Sense Media

The Social Express wins 2014 ON Learning Award for Digital LearningScreen Shot 2014-03-20 at 12.29.00 PM

 Award ceremony in San Francisco on March 20th will celebrate the year’s best in kids’ digital media products designed to educate and engage

ENCINITAS, CA —March 20, 2014-– The Social Express has received a 2014 ON for Learning Award from Common Sense Media, the national nonprofit dedicated to helping kids thrive with media and technology. The Social Express is one of just 55 apps, games and websites to be recognized for Read more

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SLP Shares How Calming Strategies App Helped Student with Autism

We are always thrilled to hear about how The Social Express has made a difference for children who need help with social skills! Libby Pittman, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) shared this story of one of her sixth graders. He was able to go on a class trip without his mom–for the first time–because he of our app, The Digital Problem Solver. It seems he’s able to use the DPS app whenever he needed calming strategies.

The Social Express, Fearless Fire Drills, by Libby PittmanAlso, Libby Pittman in her SLP work, identified the need for helping children with autism to better cope with school fire drills. She created this wonderful Facebook page with her approach. Click here to visit: Fearless Fire Drills

Here is Libby’s letter to us:


Brilliant! Just brilliant is all I can say about the Social Express App.  This program teaches the hidden curriculum that so many of our social delayed and children on the spectrum.  All the students who have used this program have shown significant improvement in being aware of others and what others may think when we say and do things.  I highly recommend this program for any SLP or resource teacher.

Last month, one of my 6th grade students was able to go out of the State on his confirmation trip without his mother due to the digital problem solver, that is part of this social program.  He had never traveled without his mother before this trip.  Through the use of the strategies that are presented in the DPS and some sensory strategies he was able to calm himself when he began to get anxious.

This is the best money I have spent on a therapy program in years.  The characters in the scenes are realistic and lovable.  The language is direct and appropriate for a wide range of receptive skills.  There is a teacher tip mode, which can be turned on or off.  The lessons are intentional and scaffold on each other beautifully.

Thank you for all that you are doing to develop this program.  I am certain you all are changing lives.

Most Sincerely,

Libby Pittman, MS CCC-SLP

Thank you so much, Libby, for sharing your experiences with your students using The Social Express! We are so glad it’s helping.

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BridgingApps.org Reviews The Social Express

BridgingApps.org, a nonprofit group associated with Easter Seals Services for People with Disabilities, of Greater Houston, reviewed The Social Express. We are honored to have their review! Here is an portion of the review by BridgingApps.org:

This is an app designed to work on pragmatic language or social skills with children, teenagers and even young adults. It was designed for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders but is appropriate for any child struggling with social skills.

The app is a series of structured animated videos and activities or lessons built around characters at the preteen level. The videos are high quality and proved to be quite engaging and fun to watch. It captured the attention of children ages 7 and up at varying developmental levels and deficits in social skills. Each video is built around a social key for the child to practice and learn. The app is highly structured with an introduction, practice activities, followed by an interactive review of the skill learned.

We have used this app with children between the ages of 7 and 12 with diagnoses on the autism spectrum. Each of them were engaged willingly throughout their sessions and enjoyed the videos and activities. The children were able to retell the story and the targeted social skill. All were willing to continue with the app throughout a therapy session, and we noted the app is also a great way to practice turn-taking, which is a crucial social skill to master.

A great add-on idea to this app would be to have the children role play each scenario after watching the video and completing the activities on The Social Express.

You can read the complete review by clicking here.

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Social Skills Program Review by Advanceweb.com

We’re fortunate to have several members of the Speech-Language Pathologists’ community who use, review, and recommend our social skills learning program.

Speech-language pathologist, Jeremy Legaspi, recently posted this review of The Social Express on the community site, advanceweb.com

The Social Express is gorgeous animated and interactive app to address social skills. It was created to work on social skills as well as target children’s social thinking skills by problem solving situations.  It’s intended to be used for elementary school-aged children with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, ADHD, nonverbal learning disabilities, pragmatic language deficits or other social-cognitive challenges.

The Social Express Opening Screen

This app provides some of the following:

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”

– 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

The Social Express [is] using video modeling to provide the visual models that children with Autism and ADHD need and crave. What is Video Modeling? Video modeling is a method of teaching that uses videos to provide a visual model of targeted behaviors or skills.

 

 

These scenes are animated.

 

 

 

There are 16 lessons across 2 Levels. Each Lesson has a Skill Level, Hidden Social key, and a goal. These include:

Skill Level 1

Skill Level 1: What are they thinking about?

Hidden Social Key: Look at what others are looking at

Goal: To introduce the concept that we look at things that we are  thinking about

Skill Level 1: Being with the group

Hidden Social Key: Keep your body facing the group

Goal: To introduce the concept that it’s important to keep your body facing the group

Skill Level 1: Pick the feeling

Hidden Social Key: User your eyes and brain to figure things out

Goal: to demonstrate how peoples’ bodies and face express emotions

Skill Level 1: Using the DPS: Digital Problem Solver

Hidden Social Key: Monitor and adjust your behavior when you’re in a group

Goal: to allow the user to identify and solve social problems

Skill Level 1: What’s Next?

Hidden Social Key: User your eyes and brain to figure things out

Goal: To present the concept of inferring what will happen next

Skill Level 1: What are they doing?

Hidden Social Key: Look at who is talking

Goal: To introduce the concept of figuring out what others are doing by looking at them

Skill Level 1: Saying the right thing

Hidden Social Key: Talk about things that others like to talk about

Goal: To introduce the concept that it is important to think about what other people like

Skill Level 1: Unlocking the clubhouse

Hidden Social Key: Use your eyes and brain to figure things out

Goal: To provide an opportunity for the user to observe and identify when others are using hidden social keys

Skill Level 2

Skill Level 2: Watch what I do

Hidden Social Key: Look at what others are looking at

Goal: To introduce the concept that it is important to watch what others are looking at or doing

Skill Level 2: Using our friend files

Hidden Social Key: Keep your body facing the group and talk about what others are discussing

Goal: To introduce the concept of listening to what others are saying

Skill Level 2: Thinking about your friend

Hidden Social Key:  Try to figure out what to do based on how others are feeling

Goal: To identify mad, sad, happy, and scared feelings, and figure out what to do when others are feeling this way

 

Skill Level 2: Using the DPS:  Digital Problem Solver

Hidden Social Key: Monitor and adjust your behavior when you’re with a group

Goal: To introduce four coping strategies and the results of using them

 

Skill Level 2: What’s their plan?

Hidden Social Key: Use your eyes and brain to figure things out

Goal: To introduce the concept of observing other’s body and eye movements to figure out what they will do next

 

Skill Level 2: What does that mean?

Hidden Social Key: Look at who is talking

Goal: to introduce the use of idioms in conversation

 

Skill Level 2: Having a conversation

Hidden Social Key: Talk about what the group is talking about

Goal: To introduce the concept that people ask follow-up questions to find out more about a topic

 

Skill Level 2: Unlocking the clubhouse

Hidden Social Key: Use your eyes and brain to figure things out

Goal: To provide the opportunity for the user to observe and identify when others are using the Hidden Social Keys

The included printables are a nice way to make these lessons tangible for the child. Here are a few examples of what the printables look like:

Watch a video of the Social Express in action.

Overall the app has some amazingly cool features and targets a number of skills that most children on the spectrum need but maybe priced out of range of some SLP’s budgets. Priced at $89.99 The Social Express is available for Mac, PC, and iPad. I say treat it as an investment and check it out on the App Store for more info here: The Social Express.

This review originally posted by Jeremy Legaspi on Advance Web you can visit by clicking here,  Advanceweb.com

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Great Review of App: Social Skills Coping Strategies for Kids

Common Sense Media Reviews My DPS, by The Social ExpressThanks to Common Sense Media for a great review of a social skills app for kids from The Social Express: My DPS, Digital Problem Solver!

My Digital Problem Solver Helps Kids with Social Skills Coping Techniques

Here is an excerpt from the review of our social skills coping app for kids:

What parents Need to Know:

Parents need to know that My DPS is an excellent app to teach emotions and problem-solving techniques. The app focuses on identifying a variety of emotions through facial expressions, body language, and written/spoken language, and suggests coping strategies to deal with a range of social situations. My DPS is short for “My Digital Problem Solver” and uses CGI-animated videos to show social situations and coping skills in settings relevant to kids.

My Digital Problem Solver app, by The Social ExpressMy DPS is an excellent app to help teach emotions and social problem solving techniques. It’s easy to use, can be customized to show a variety of emotions, and teaches valuable everyday life skills. The CGI animations are impressive, and the app’s music is calming with comforting lyrics. The app would be even better if it had a spoken text option for non-readers and a way to import video to customize coping strategies options.

That said, My DPS is a fantastic tool to help kids learn effective coping techniques. You can read the complete review by clicking here.

What kids can learn

Kids can learn to identify emotions and successful coping mechanisms, as well as hone interpersonal skills to help them manage a variety of social situations. The CGI animations also help kids handle stress by developing self-reliance to move beyond emotional obstacles. The in-app visual and aural cues are accessible to kids with developmental and learning differences. While the aural and video cues can’t be modified, still picture and text cues can be customized to match specific emotions and coping strategies. The customization options and impressive animations help make My DPS a great way to learn about emotions.

Common Sense Media is a great resource for parents looking to find the best apps to help their kids. Find out more by visiting their website by clicking here.

 

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Autism Plugged In: The Social Story Application You’ve Been Dreaming About

 

A big thank you to Jack Kieffer of Autism Plugged In for a great review of our social skills learning program. Jack says The Social Express “takes kids through social skills with ease“. Check out Autism PluggedIn for more reviews of learning programs and apps.

Autism Plugged In reviews our social skills learning program

The Social Express: Social Story Application You’ve Been Dreaming About

The Social Express Takes Kids Through Social Situations With Ease!

One of the things that might stand out about The Social Express app for iPad is the price tag – at a whopping $89.99, this app isn’t something that you purchase without researching.  Having used the autism app and experienced it for myself, I can assure you that the program is worth the cost if you have a child who needs to build effective social skills!

The Social Express app is full of beautifully detailed animations which take users through countless different social Read more

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Innovative Tool to Overcome Social Learning Challenges

Southeast Psych Calls The Social Express Innovative ToolSouthEast Psych is a psychology practice located in Charlotte, North Carolina. (That’s also where our president Jon Cornick is based.) The SouthEast Psych team is a great group of people. They’re really focused on giving their clients a top-notch experience.

Here’s how they make that happen, from their website:

Southeast Psych is one of the largest and most-respected psychology practices in the region. We got that way by hiring top-notch clinical and support staff and investing heavily in the practice. When you visit either location, you’ll notice books, coffee, tremendous hospitality, and even an unexpected sense of fun. We want our clients to have a special experience from the time they walk in the door until the moment they leave.

SouthEast Psych reviewed our social learning software and gave us high marks! Thanks so much to Becky Thompson at SouthEast Psych for this review.

Here is their wonderful review.

The Social Express: An Innovative Tool for Overcoming Social Learning Challenges

Just like IQs, we each have a unique EQ, or emotional intelligence quotient.  However, in the same way that IQs can be developed over time, EQs can be built through explicit learning and practice, as well.  Especially for our kids with social learning challenges, it is essential to provide opportunities for emotional intelligence growth.
One of the most innovative tools we’ve seen recently is Read more

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Autism Software: Engaging New Way to Learn Social Skills, in Autism Digest

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our autism software is featured in the July/August issue of the Autism Digest print magazine! Being highlighted by this wonderful publication is a terrific honor for us! Autism Digest is focused on providing the latest in help for autism.

They titled the article about our social learning software: “Engaging New Way to Learn Social Skills”

According to its website, Autism –Asperger’s Digest provides helpful information for teachers, families and therapists who support children and people diagnosed on the autism spectrum.

From the Autism Digest article:

The Social Express has wrapped best practices for learning social skills into an exciting platform.

The Social Express is educational software designed to teach users how to think about and manage social situations, helping them to develop meaningful social relationships and succeed in life.

The interactive content teaches social skills as it follows characters through social interactions around town. The Social Express is based on best practices for helping children and young adults with ASD to learn social skills—and has wrapped them into an exciting platform.

The lessons build on each another to teach skills that include perspective-taking, understanding that others have feelings, and coping before an impending meltdown. It is designed to start discussions on social situations giving opportunities for parents to interact with their children frequently throughout the program.

We’re also excited because they told us in an email, that they “really enjoyed reviewing The Social Express”.

About Autism Digest

The company that publishes Autism Digest was established in 1996. Its founder talks about what an inspiration his son, Alex, had on him and the reason he started the company. Nearly everyone who works at the company, Future Horizons, has a friend or family member impacted by autism, according to the website.

This quote sums up their mission, from the Autism Digest website:

It is our strong belief that every child and adult with autism can improve and contribute to the lives of those who love them and, in many ways, contribute to society.

You can learn more about Autism – Asperger’s Digest at its website here: http://autismdigest.com/

Join our free newsletter! Get insider updates from The Social Express, click here to join us![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Interview: Autism Software Recommended by Social Skills Director

Autism-Software-Interview-Elif-Cagin

Elif Cagin, Social Skills Director at New Vista School

We are always excited when parents, therapists and educators send us stories about positive experiences using our autism software social skills program.

Recently, we sat down with Elif Cagin an educator who uses our autism software learning program with her students. Elif highly recommends The Social Express to other educators.

She is the Social Skills Department Chair at the New Vista School for adolescents with autism here in Southern California.

We asked her to share with us how she uses The Social Express with her students. Here is part one of our interview with Elif Cagin. We’ll post the second part tomorrow.

 The Social Express: Tell us about yourself, your role at the school and the types of students you work with.

Elif Cagin: I received my Applied Behavior Analysis Post-Masters Certificate from Pennsylvania State University and plans to sit for BCBA exam in Spring 2012. Also, I received a Master’s Degree in Special Education, Mild/Moderate Education Specialist Instruction credential, CLAD Certification, and EL Authorization from Chapman University.

Additionally, I’m a trained and certified therapist – UCLA Program for the Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS). I attended University of California, Riverside and received her Bachelor Degree in Liberal Studies. Currently, I am  the Social Skills Department Chair at New Vista School, a school for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

I enjoy being active in my community serving as the Chair for Autism Speaks Orange County Chapter 2012-2013. I previously volunteered as School and Community Outreach Co-Chair for Autism Speaks Orange County Chapter 2010-2011.  My professional interests are in the remediation and support of developmental delays and the treatment of social and behavioral deficits in children, adolescents and young adults.

I have over 8 years of experience in the assessment, treatment, and education of children, adolescents, and young adults with a variety of developmental disabilities and behavior disorders in school, home, community, and clinic settings. I’ve presented with other professionals in the field on a variety of topics regarding social skills development- curriculum and instruction, effective autism behavioral teaching strategies, and special education strategies.

My work and on-going education has focused on helping my students and families achieve happier, more fulfilling lives and relationships.  I have passion for working with students with special needs began at a very young age. I have a younger adult sibling who is on the Autism spectrum and my family is my source of inspiration and encouragement.

TSE: How do you use The Social Express autism software program with your students?

Elif: In our classroom we use The Social Express program 3-4 days a week to enrich social skills concept development and encourage application and generalization. We play the program on an iPad and project the program on the classroom whiteboard.

We begin the lesson with direct instruction of the concept that will be the focus of the day and play the program. We pause the program for discussion and participation.

If needed, we scaffold questions for students so that we can target individual behavior and social goals. This program is appropriate for varying ability levels because you can enrich or modify your own instruction and use the modeling in program as a strong support for any social skill concept that is being taught.

TSE: What kinds of progress are you seeing if any, from using the program with your students?

Elif: Student attention and engagement in social skills concept development across the class period has increased noticeably. I have observed specific students that could only attend to a lesson for no more than 10 minutes with frequent prompting for participation now when using “The Social Express” attend for 15-20 minutes and participate independently.

Students request The Social Express.  I find this is a highly preferred mode of instruction support. I have observed students outside of class discussing concepts and using critical thinking skills when faced with or observe peers that are in similar situations as the characters in the program.

Academic teachers such as reading, math, science, and social studies have also observed application and discussion of behaviors and social skills that have been taught using The Social Express.

Stop by tomorrow for part two of our interview.

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