Teaching Your Child How to Start Conversations: 3 Brilliant Basics

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]You may be wondering where to begin when it comes to teaching your child how to start conversations. Here are a couple of great tips to help you: breaking the skill of starting conversations into three basic steps and video recording your role-play session with your child.

Maybe, like me, once you realized your child needed help practicing social skills, and starting conversations you may think, this is a tough problem to teach!

For parents, starting and having conversations is such a basic, ingrained activity. How do you explain starting conversations in a way it that your child will understand? Here are some ideas.

Teaching Your Child How to Start Conversations

I like the way teaching how to start conversations is explained by Kerry Mehaffey Mataya, M.Ed. on this website. She boils the entire social skill—starting conversations—down to three brilliantly simple basics:

1. Asking questions

2. Telling stories

3. Making comments

She reminds us that a balance of these three components is the fluid that makes good conversations start and flow.

Asking questions. When practicing the asking questions step, remind your child to use the “w” words like who, what, when, where, and why (also, how). Explain how follow up questions are used to show the other kids that he’s interested in what they’re saying.

Telling stories. Practice with your child to help him think about the kinds of things he can tell a story about. For example, a family trip to the zoo, a movie he really liked or other fun event. Be watchful for your child’s tendency to tell stories that are too long.

Making comments. Talk to him about how to use good comments during conversations. Brainstorm with your child the words or phrases that he can easily use to make appropriate comments during conversations. Demonstrate for him how a comment made at the wrong time in a conversation can sound like he’s not interested in the other kid’s story. Or can make it seem that he’s not listening.

Video role-plays. Record your role-play sessions using a video camera.  Your child may respond well to watching a video of him and you practicing having conversations. This way you can easily point out skills he is doing well, and those that he needs to practice. As long as you use lots of positive feedback, this could work quite well.

Always, give praise and positive feedback. According to Anxiety BC website, it’s best when role playing with your child to immediately afterwards, give lots of praise about what your child did well. Look hard to find any small, yet noticeable, signs of improvement. For example:

“Well done! You smiled and looked me in the eye when you asked me the question. You looked very friendly!”

You can download the Anxiety BC document here at their website.

Be sure to check out the helpful handout, “Conversation Basics”, created by Kerry Mehaffey Mataya, you can find her handout and download it here.

I wish you and your child many great role-play sessions on starting conversations!

–Marc

Dad, Developer

If you’re looking to help your child learn social skills, our online engaging animated program may benefit your child. Parents tell us that kids love the Hollywood style animation and characters and actually ask to use The Social Express!
To see how it works, click here.   Click here to try our 10-day, no risk trial.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Helping Your Child to Control His Emotions

Characters Zack and Sam demonstrate how to control your emotions.

Characters Zack and Sam demonstrate how to control your emotions.

As a parent, you likely cringe when your child is playing with others and seems to easily lose control of his emotions over a small disagreement. I know I do.

We found some creative ideas to help when you’re talking with your child about how to Read more

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Improving Your Child’s Social Skills: Making Eye Contact

Making eye contact in conversations is a top social skill you can help your child to learn.

Is making eye contact with other kids a problem for your child? You can help! Use simple ways to teach your child to make eye contact like asking him to look into your eyes when he requests a toy or treat, tape visual aids to your forehead and break the instructions into small steps.

We know that an inability to make eye contact during a conversation is a social deficit. It may be a barrier to your child’s success at making friends.

Take heart if this is a problem for your child. You’re not alone. Making eye contact is a basic social skill that leads to positive social interaction with others. Many children just need help grasping the skill of eye contact when speaking with others.

Reinforce Making Eye Contact

With our 12-year-old twins, my wife and I are very consistent about reinforcing eye contact. Since the boys were small, we’ve always insisted that they look us in our eyes when they ask for a toy or treat. We don’t hand it to them until they make eye contact. Then we PRAISE them every time. Try this with your child. I even make a game out of it!

Research finds that children with social skill learning challenges often require ‘direct instruction’. That means that each part of the skill is broken into smaller pieces. Making eye contact during conversations is no different.

Parenting Science website writes that for kids to get better at making friends certain skills are required that you can easily practice with your child. They also remind us that these life skills (or social skills) are not taught in one day, but over time. So we’ll all need a bit more patience…

Teaching your child the kinds of interpersonal skills that make it easier for him to make friends.

Identify the skills that you can practice with your child. Life skills such as participating in conversations and making eye contact are at the top of the list for me!

Practice How to Make Eye Contact with Your Child

“Look in my eyes.” Make sure your child establishes eye contact when he asks for something. By doing this, you’re teaching him the critical link between communication and focus. If he wants a toy say, “Look in my eyes” so that he better understands the relationship between his request and your ability to fulfill it.

Here are more ideas for practicing eye contact with your child.

Use visual aids. Tape cutouts of eyeballs on your forehead when practicing with your child. This will remind him to look at yours and other peoples’ eyes. It reinforces what eye contact is. Experiment with other aids to gently guide your child to look at your eyes. Try colored stickers placed between your eyebrows.

Apply direct instruction. Break down the rules for making eye contact into simple, age-appropriate steps for your child. For example, explaining how to use eye contact during a conversation might go something like this:

1. We always look into the eyes of the person who is talking.

2. Keep looking into the other kid’s eyes until he is finished talking.

3. If you don’t want to look into someone’s eyes, try looking at their forehead.

4. This is polite and a good thing!

5. When it’s your turn to talk, the other kids will look at you!

More small steps to help your child:

• Don’t look down at the ground when one of the kids is talking.

• Look at the eyes of the kid who is talking.

• Looking at his eyes lets him know that you’re listening.

• The other kids will feel good because you’re looking at them while they talk.

• Looking in the other kids eyes means you are interested in what he’s saying.

Praise big! PBS Therapy recommends that you reinforce your child’s positive behavior up to 25 times per day. Tell your child “I like how you look in my eyes when I’m talking to you!” Find more ways to give your child positive feedback!

Great Story About Teaching Eye Contact

Over on Baby Center Blog there’s a great story about a mom helping her daughter make eye contact. The mom realized her 9-year-old daughter, Violet, never looked other kids in the eye while playing or talking with them. It was one of the reasons her daughter was being ignored at school.

The mom reminded Violet every day about eye contact while they were walking to school and other kids said hello. Her daughter really didn’t like the reminders and complained (loudly) about being reminded.

Then Violet finally got it. Now she always makes eye contact and is forming friendships! The mom was so happy she cried! It’s a great short story about a mom’s persistence and her child’s success at making friends. You can read the full article here.

I wish you all the best with teaching your child about making eye contact! Your time will be well spent!

—Marc
Dad, Developer

If you’re looking to help your child learn social skills, our online engaging animated program may benefit your child. Parents tell us that kids love the Hollywood style animation and characters and actually ask to use The Social Express!
To see how it works, click here.   Click here to try our 10-day, no risk trial.

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Social Skills Lessons: How Do I Get My Child to Follow the Rules?

AKJ-Central Station_Final

As a dad of 11-year-old twin boys, I like to consider the latest thinking on the topic of parenting by reviewing current research and blogs of other parents.  A key topic for me is social skills lessons. One of the best things about the explosion of millions of people posting content on the Internet is that you can easily find fresh ideas or approaches for a problem.

Helping my children with social skills lessons is a constant area of focus for my wife and me. I’m sharing with you approaches that have worked for us. We believe that understanding and following the rules at home is the first step to our twins’ success at school and in other social situations.

Here is my list of 7 steps to take to help your child learn to follow the rules.

1. Create the rules together with your child. According to Lacie Rader, teacher, author and mom, you should involve your child in the setting of rules. Sit down with a paper and pen and talk to your child about setting rules. Rader believes that your child will find ownership, especially if she or he is able to suggest and help create the rules. Rader says,

“Rather than the rules coming from Mommy, minute by minute throughout the day… this is a list, it’s consistent and best of all, the enemy is the list (not you)!”

 2. Have both consequences and rewards in place. In our family we mean what say and we say what we mean. Six months ago, one of our twins belched at dinner and didn’t say excuse me, his consequence was no desert. He was mad and protested but my wife and I still kept to our rule. He hasn’t forgot to say excuse me again since. When our twins follow the rules they are rewarded in multiple ways usually verbally and sometimes with a preferred activity.

3. Use a gentle and sensitive tone to explain the rules to your child. Your home is not a boot camp and you are not a drill sergeant. The Family Share website reminds us that using orders, forcing or threats may drive your child in the wrong direction. They will be act out of fear. By being sensitive when reminding and reinforcing the rules, your child learns to make the choice to follow the rule for the right reasons.

4. Every child must follow the same rules. If you have more than one child, like us, you probably find that the sanest approach—for you and your kids—is to apply the same rules equally. There’s plenty of time when they grow up to discover that the world isn’t (really) a fair place. Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.

5. Hold practice sessions about following the rules in the safe environment of home. Explain to your child how to follow the rules at school when he is interacting in groups with other kids. For example, explain to your child how to approach a group of kids playing together. Explain to your child in detail, the steps to follow when he wants to join a group of kids playing together. Role-play with your child. First, explain each step:

1) Wait for a good time to join the game. Like when there’s a break or the ball rolls away.
2) Smile at the kids and make eye contact.
3) Say something positive: you guys look like you’re having fun!
4) Then ask—while still smiling—may I join you?
5) Last, discuss what to do next if the kids say “no”.

6. Consistently on teach table manners. This one may or may not help them improve their social skills deficits with other kids but it’s still a big one. Work to reinforce the basics: Not jumping to eat before others are served, placing the napkin in their lap and using forks and knives correctly.

7. Discourage food-criticizing behavior. This is a key social skill learning they’ll need as adults! The blog at Today’s Parent has a great suggestion they quoted from parenting coach Lisa Bunnage:

“The other thing kids this age have in common is complaining about the meal they’re served. “I suggest parents say, ‘OK, start cooking for yourself. But the rules are that your meal has to be healthy and you have to leave the kitchen spotless,’” says Bunnage. “Either they’ll try it once and decide mom’s food tastes great, or they end up loving to cook and clean and become the family chef.”

If you have other suggestions for helping your child follow the rules, please let us know below in the comments. We’d also like to hear what doesn’t work when teaching your child social skills.

–Marc
Dad and Developer

If you’re looking to help your child learn social skills, our online engaging animated program may benefit your child. Parents tell us that kids love the Hollywood style animation and characters and actually ask to use The Social Express!

To see how The Social Express works, click here.

If you’d like to try our 10-day, no risk trial, click here.
 

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Social Skills Learning Software Aims to Reach Children with Autism

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This article about our social skills learning software was published in the Greater Wilmington Business Journal

Unhappy with the quality of software games available for children with autism, a team that includes a Leland resident set out to make its own.

The software developed by The Social Express uses animation to help children on the spectrum learn to interact with others in a more typical manner.

Identifying feelings in others, being part of a group and figuring out the hidden rules of social interaction are some of the social skills the software teaches, said Jon Cornick, president and COO of The Social Express.

“One of the big deficits of kids that are on the spectrum is identifying non-verbal social skills. All of the areas are targeted with our program,” said Cornick, who is based in Leland. “We are combining the best practices to create our lesson plans.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines autism spectrum disorders as a “group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges,” and according to a CDC study last year, an estimated 1 in 88 children in the United States has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder.

While scientists do not have a clear understanding of what causes the disorders, parents have found that software can help children learn valuable social skills, Cornick said.

Cornick said that he came to the company after a career of producing movies, joining the founders Marc and Tina Zimmerman when the software launched in 2011.

“One of my dearest friends is Marc Zimmerman, who had this idea to create The Social Express. He needed animators and engineers. I was in between films in 2011, and I came on at the launch,” Cornick said.

The Zimmermans have autistic twin boys and found that they responded well to software used by after-school therapists.

“The children were mainstreamed in their local public school, and the behavioral issues were in check, but their social and emotional skills were a real deficit,” Cornick said.

Marc Zimmerman, a software entrepreneur and professional musician, sought to design a better alternative to the software available for children with autism.

Today, the software is used by more than 200 school districts, Cornick said, and is available on Macintosh, PC and iOS (iPhone and iPad).

The 2.0 version of the software is due out soon and will shift to a web-based, subscription version with new features. Cornick said the web-based model would allow for more frequent updates and more lessons and would include a special protected social network for children who use the program, called the Club House.

“One of the real problems is that most of these kids have few or no friends,” Cornick said. “We have created the Club House to have a way for kids to connect.”

Websites used by children under 13 are required to follow special guidelines outlined in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the software requires parents to approve their children’s access.

“Because the parent’s email is attached to the child, we have a parent portal, and they can see every conversation their child is having. Children have the option to flag inappropriate conversations, and both parents are notified,” Cornick said.

The Social Express has offices in Leland (with Cornick) and California (with the Zimmermans) and employs between 12 and 17 people depending on workload.

“We have 16 lessons with 30 interactive scenes, and we are animating 10 more now,” Cornick said.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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School Districts Pilot Web-Based Social Skills Program by The Social Express

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) January 31, 2013

The makers of The Social Express® are pleased to announce that three school districts in Maine and California have signed on to pilot their newest education technology in February 2013. These school districts will have early access to the upcoming Web-based version of the company’s well-received social skills learning program.

The school districts participating in the new pilot programs include South Portland, Maine; and both Encinitas and Solana Beach, California.

The Social Express, winner of the SIIA Innovation Incubator Award in Ed Tech, is an interactive social skills learning program. The Social Express targets core deficit social skill areas that stand in the way of school and life success for children and young adults with social learning challenges.

The newest program from The Social Express provides teachers and professionals with reporting summaries that are relevant to them. This internet-based interactive education technology tool aligns with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), an initiative that is already being implemented nation-wide in the public schools. This new feature of the program will make writing social skill educational goals and reporting on progress easier for all professionals working with their students.

The Social Express will continue to incorporate the best evidence-based social learning practices to help students improve their use of social skills across all learning environments. Students work on “hidden social keys” such as making eye contact, recognizing non-verbal language cues from others, and turn taking, to name a few. The new program enables school districts to offer all of its students and teachers an updated social skills teaching method that uses a single sign on and minimizes IT costs.

Tamara Green, M.S., CCC-SLP and Content Director for the company said, “The benefits to students, teachers and professionals using this program are numerous. We know how valuable social skills are to succeed in our fast-paced world. An unfortunate reality is that socially rejected and socially isolated children and young adults with social learning challenges are at risk for academic failure and social adjustment problems. We are dedicated to meeting the growing need for explicit social skills instruction. Our research-based program is influenced by learning frameworks and methodologies from experts in the fields of education, social communication and psychology.”

Green continued, “Our lessons target the skills necessary to being a good social communicator. Our goal is for children to become more confident in using their social communication skills and carry over these skills wherever they go. Through explicit video modeling, individuals learn how to make friends and keep friends.”

Teachers, administrators and school professionals in each district will access the new Web-based version of The Social Express from all desktop computers and laptops. No special software needs to be loaded on each computer. The new program retains the wonderful characters that users love, and offers the same interactive learning environment.

Professionals and educators piloting the new Internet-based program will use integrated tools to create custom learning plans individualized for each student. They’ll also have access to new content each month and the popular built-in teaching tips.

Since launching in November 2011, The Social Express has received worldwide support and heartwarming testimonials. Stories of progress and success have poured in from Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), behaviorists, educators and parents. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), ADHD, learning disabilities, and normally developing children have found help using the program.

The Social Express is an interactive video-modeling intervention for parents, professionals, educators and the children they work with. Those that have worked with The Social Express have come to appreciate the high-quality, Hollywood-style animation and socially relevant content. It not only holds the user’s attention without over stimulating the senses, but also provides learning scenarios that reinforce best social choices. Learn more about The Social Express by visiting: thesocialexpress.com Twitter: @TheSocialExpres

About Brighten Learning, Inc.:

Brighten Learning®, founded by parents of autistic twins in 2010, is a privately held company based in Encinitas, California. The company develops The Social Express® and other interactive social skills software and learning management systems. The company’s mission is to help special needs children with social-emotional deficits to improve their lives. The company’s video modeling social skills learning programs help children with ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s, and related disorders to improve their interactions with others. Visit the company at http://thesocialexpress.com/

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The Social Express Readies New Web-Based Social Skills Program

The Social Express Web-based Version Coming SoonThe new Internet-based version of the popular social skills learning program, The Social Express, will be offered soon for Families, Professionals and School Districts.

An added feature, ‘The Clubhouse’, provides a safe environment for kids who are members to connect with each other and engage while practicing social skills.

Quote startThe upcoming Web-based, subscription version of The Social Express makes it easier to reach many more children and young adults who need help learning and practicing social skills. We want to help as many kids as possible to better interact with others.Quote end

 
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) January 25, 2013

Brighten Learning, makers of The Social Express®, is pleased to announce that a new Web-based version of its social skills learning program is coming soon.

The Social Express, winner of the SIIA Innovation Incubator Award in Ed Tech, is an interactive program that targets core deficit areas that stand in the way of school, social, and life success for children and young adults with social learning challenges.

Marc Zimmerman, CEO, said, “We’re so humbled by the community of parents, professionals and teachers that have gathered around The Social Express. We’re thrilled to be able to convert our social skills learning software into an Internet-based program. The upcoming Web-based, subscription version makes it easier for us to reach many more children and young adults who need help learning and practicing social skills. We want to help as many kids as possible to better interact with others.”

Families, Professionals and School Districts will be able to access the new Web-based version of The Social Express from all desktop computers, laptops and selected mobile devices. The new program retains the wonderful characters that users love and offers the same interactive learning environment for children to use along with their parents, teachers and speech language professionals.

Parents, school districts and professionals who become members of the new Internet-based program from The Social Express will be able to create custom learning plans around their children’s needs for social skill improvement. They’ll also have access to new content each month and the popular built-in teaching tips.

Jon Cornick, President and COO, said, “We developed the Web-based version to make it easier for children who need help with social skills to learn, connect and engage. One example, ‘The Clubhouse’, is a new private social network exclusively for children registered in The Social Express program. Inside The Clubhouse they can engage with each other while practicing the very skills they have learned in The Social Express. The goal is for them to generalize these new skills and ultimately make friends. The Clubhouse provides a safe and fun environment for this, and there is even a Parent Login for observing the child’s progress.”

Cornick added, “We’re developing exciting new tools and ways for kids to get involved with both learning and practicing social skills in our upcoming version of The Social Express. We invite our community of parents, educators and professionals to stay tuned to our exciting announcements. “

Since beginning in November of 2011, The Social Express has received wide support and heartwarming testimonials. Stories of progress and success have poured in from Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), parents and teachers of children diagnosed with Asperger’s, ADHD, autism and related disorders who have found help using the program.

The Social Express is an interactive video-modeling, social skills learning and education for autism program. Parents, professionals, and educators of special needs children like the high-quality, Hollywood-style animation that holds their attention without over stimulation. They also like the scenes that reinforce the best choices for kids to make in social situations. Learn more about The Social Express by visiting: thesocialexpress.com Twitter: @TheSocialExpres
Or follow the company on Facebook

Join our mailing list to hear exciting about new announcements and special offers from The Social Express! Click here to join our mailing list.

About Brighten Learning, Inc.:

Brighten Learning®, founded by parents of autistic twins in 2010, is a privately held company based in Encinitas, California. The company develops The Social Express® and other interactive social skills software and learning management systems. The company’s mission is to help special needs children with social-emotional deficits to improve their lives. The company’s video modeling social skills learning programs help children with ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s, and related disorders to improve their interactions with others. Visit the company at http://thesocialexpress.com/

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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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Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism & Social Learning Startup Donate to Schools with Autism Classes

The Doug Flutie Jr Foundation for Autism Partners with The Social ExpressSan Diego, CA and Framingham, MA—(PRWeb) October 23, 2012—The Social Express™, creators of new interactive social skills programs for special needs children, has partnered with The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism and donated copies of its program to schools who teach children with autism.

“We’re very proud to donate The Social Express learning program to The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism,” said Marc Zimmerman, CEO and Founder of Brighten Learning. “After using our program, teachers tell us that students are extremely receptive to its social skills lessons like ‘talking about what others like to talk about’ and ‘being part of the group’.  Many ask to use the program everyday.“

Zimmerman added, “Educator feedback also tells us that The Social Express characters engage students so well, they’re able to begin learning tough social concepts. We’re excited to share the program with more schools!”

The importance of technology to enhance children’s learning in the classroom is widely accepted. For children with autism, laptop computers are especially helpful but are out of reach for many schools with autism specific classrooms.

The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism has long recognized this fact. In 2000 the Laurie Flutie Computer Initiative was created for the purpose of donating computers to underprivileged families of individuals living with autism as well as to schools with autism-specific classrooms.

Chris Chirco, Program Director at the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, stated that, “The Flutie Foundation is excited to partner with The Social Express.  Computer technology has become a key component in the education of many individuals with autism spectrum disorders and The Social Express offers a very visually stimulating and engaging interface that is sure to appeal to children on the autism spectrum.  Learning social skills can be critical for an individual with autism to succeed independently.”

Computers are given to schools with autism-specific classrooms that could not otherwise afford to purchase them. To date the foundation has distributed close to 500 computers to families and schools in New York and New England.

In its initial phase, The Social Express is a 16-lesson interactive video-modeling social skills learning program. Parents, professionals, and educators of special needs children like the high-quality, Hollywood-style animation that holds their attention without over stimulation and the scenes that reinforce the best choices for kids to make in social situations.

Children with autism, ADHD, Asperger’s, and other social-emotional deficits find the characters engaging and many ask to use it every day. Learn more about The Social Express by visiting the website: http://thesocialexpress.com/

About Brighten Learning, Inc.:

Brighten Learning™, founded by parents of autistic twins in 2008, is a privately held company based in Encinitas, California.  The company develops The Social Express™ and other interactive social skills software and learning management systems. The company’s mission is to help special needs children with social-emotional deficits to improve their lives. The company’s video modeling social skills learning programs help children with ADHD, Autism, Asperger’s, and related disorders to improve their interactions with others. Visit the company at http://thesocialexpress.com/

About The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism:

The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, Inc. was established in 1998 by Doug Flutie and his wife, Laurie, in honor of their 20  year old son, Doug, Jr. who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. The Flutie Foundation’s mission is to support families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Foundation is committed to increasing awareness of the challenges of living with autism and helping families find resources to help address those challenges. We provide individuals with autism and their families an opportunity to improve their quality of life by funding educational, therapeutic, recreational and advocacy programs. For more information on The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, please contact Maria Baez at the Ebben Zall Group at (781) 449-3244, or visit www.flutiefoundation.org.

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