Tag Archive for: aspergers

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO IMPLEMENT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM FROM THE SOCIAL EXPRESS®

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO IMPLEMENT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM FROM THE SOCIAL EXPRESS®

LAUSD educators to use the award-winning interactive program to help students with social learning challenges

Encinitas, Calif. – Sept. 9, 2013 – The Social Express, a web-based program for students struggling with Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, and other social learning challenges, has been selected by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to support social and emotional learning in classrooms across the district.  With more than 650,000 K-12 students in nearly 1,000 facilities district-wide, LAUSD is the second largest school district in the nation.

Incorporating cognitive behavioral research and evidence-based social learning practices, the lessons in The Social Express use “Hollywood quality” animation to model the social skills integral to relationship building as well as career and life success.   The animated webisodes target 14 different skills and multi-tiered user levels, and are supported by quizzes, worksheets, and offline activities.  In addition, students have access to a private social network, The Clubhouse, which serves as an extension of the lessons where students can practice their skills and make friends in a safe environment.

“The Social Express offers a comprehensive curriculum and guide containing the very foundations of social and emotional skills that we are required to teach,” said Amy Nguyen, special education specialist for LAUSD.  “It is easy for teachers to use, and fun for the students.”

Through a robust student management system called “Central Station,” The Social Express allows teachers and professionals to manage individual student and group use of the program, track usage and progress, run reports, and even export data for IEP reporting compliance.  Activities in The Social Express adhere to the California State Board of Education Content Standards and the Common Core State Standards.

“Research shows quite clearly that children with social learning challenges have a much harder time succeeding at school and in the workplace.  Despite this, the unfortunate reality is that far too few schools provide support in this area,” said Marc Zimmerman, founder and CEO of The Social Express.   “We applaud LAUSD officials for acknowledging the need to provide social skills instruction to its challenged learners and helping them develop the skills necessary for life-long success.”

About The Social Express

Launched in 2011, The Social Express is an interactive program that supports social and emotional learning for students struggling with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), ADHD, and other social learning challenges.  Available to schools, professionals, and parents, the award-winning online program teaches users how to think about and manage social situations, helping them to develop meaningful social relationships and succeed in life.

For more information visit http://www.TheSocialExpress.com

Media contact:

Leslie Eicher, APR

314-965-1776

Leslie@EicherCommunications.com

 

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Stephen Volan Diagnosed with Aspergers at 37 Years Old Uses His Theatre Skills To Help With Social Skills

I woke up this morning with this great video clip in my inbox.  This is a great, here is a guy who was diagnosed with Aspergers at 37 years old! He had gone through his entire childhood, teens and early adulthood with probably thinking why am I different then everyone else?

What he has accomplished is nothing more than amazing, a city council member, a professor at Indiana University, a radio show host and a successful businessman. He describes his personal battle with Aspergers with incredible clarity. He explains to his audience that he is more comfortable speaking to a large  crowd then one on one.  Stage fright is a common feeling for anyone who is not used to being on stage. Public speaking is actually extremely scary for most everyone with or with out autism.  He says every day social situations make him feel that “stage fright” feeling.” He talks about several occasions where he would rather stay home all day then risk meeting someone new which would require social interaction.

The way he has overcome this is absolutely the best part of this clip.  He embraced the arts, actually comedy improvisation is what worked best for him. He learned all the nuances of improv and how you work with a partner.  He learned that you stay on topic when improvising, something all kids with autism have difficulty with.  Comedy is so social and this is what he used to help him navigate our very complicated social world.

I am definitely going to look for more theater activities for my kids with autism to participate in.

How do you think your kids with autism would do in a theater class?

Enjoy the clip

 

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Mom Calls New App For Kids with Autism “Amazing”

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Social Express™ is a new interactive software application that helps children with ADHD, autism and Asperger’s and related disorders improve their social skills.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Social Express, New App For Social Skills

The Social Express, New App For Social Skills
PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 15, 2011 –
Mandy Nite, the creator of Welcome to Their World blog, shares encouraging results about her young daughter’s progress since working with The Social Express. Nite posted the following assessment on her blog: “This app has everything imaginable about social skills learning except for the live person!!! This app is amazing for children with ADHD, Autism, and Asperger’s.” Find more information here http://thesocialexpress.com/Nite’s daughter, who will turn eight years old soon, has significant social skill problems, high functioning autism and ADHD.  Nite explains that after her daughter completed just half of The Social Express lessons, “She is starting to use what she learned in The Social Express in the real-world.” Nite continues, “I’m amazed everyday by the progress she’s made. She has even started to talk with other children one on one slowly with a little prompting and a few reminders of social skills but is getting the hang of it.”

Marc Zimmerman,  CEO and Founder of Brighten Learning,  the developer of The Social Express, commented, “The Social Express teaches children how to think about and manage social situations through video modeling.”  Zimmerman continued,  “The highly engaging interactive software and crisp clear graphics enables children with autism to build social-emotional skills more easily.”

The Social Express targets core deficit areas that stand in the way of school, social, and life success for children and young adults with social learning challenges.  Learn more and view a demonstration by visiting the company’s website at TheSocialExpress.com

The Social Express is available for the iPad, Windows PCs and Apple computers and can be purchased and downloaded from http://thesocialexpress.com/ or iTunes.com.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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2011 Readers’ Choice Awards Nominations

The Social Express was just nominated for the 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards for “best kids apps”, Thank you Mandy!

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A Great Mom Gave Us A Shout Out On Facebook

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This is a great quote from a Mom who just downloaded the Lite version

“Love the characters..pause button is a huge plus to engage in lesson tailored to your child..created by a dad with two autistic sons, this one is worth the purchase.” 

Thank you![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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My Favorite Apps For Speech Therapy and Social Learning

Thank you to Angela Desideri for mentioning The Social Express social learning application in her blogg today. Angela Desideri, MS, CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist and co-developer of SpeechTree, a research-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app for the iPad. She is an approved American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) CEU provider and has presented on the topic of AAC throughout the United States and internationally.

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Study Finds Teens With Autism Face Major Obstacles To Social Life Outside of School

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A recent study of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder by Paul Shattuck, PhD, autism expert and assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis Shattuck notes that limited or absent peer relationships can negatively influence health and mental health, especially during the teen years. The study showed teens with an ASD were significantly more likely never to see friends out of school.  Although large large organizations like the YMCA offer inclusion programs for special needs children, their counselors are most likely not trained to facilitate interactions between typical peers and special needs children.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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A Friend Like You

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This is a song I wrote called a A Friend Like You, which I had my good friend Karen Trapane sing. I took some still shots from The Social Express which I thought would fit perfectly to the music and the words.

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Marc[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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