Thinking About You, Thinking About Me [Paperback]

Michelle Garcia Winner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2007

Students with social cognitive learning deficits face enormous challenges not only in their day-to-day relations with the world around them, but also in the fact that few professionals, educational or medical, understand the core of these student's deficits. One fundamental deficit relates to perspective taking - the ability of one person to consider the point of view and motives of another. Although this sounds like a simple process, it is in fact a hugely complex task that is crucial to successful interpersonal relations, and is a skill that anyone with a social cognition disability will struggle with. This book addresses the different ways this problem can present itself, the current thinking on how to approach the problem and a wealth of exercises and activities that can immediately be applied to the student. Illustrated with clear diagrams and tables, and with photocopiable handouts, this accessible text will be invaluable for anyone assessing, living with or teaching children and adults with this most abstract of all learning disabilities.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michelle Garcia Winner is a speech and language pathologist who runs a private practice in San Jose, California, devoted to the needs of students with social cognitive deficits. Her first book, Inside Out, is also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: Think Social Publishing; 2 edition (September 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970132069
• ISBN-13: 978-0970132062
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, this is a great book, [...], December 5, 2007

By 

bibliomom "bibliomom" (seattle, wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thinking About You, Thinking About Me (Paperback)

[...]

[...] I don't have time for a full review right now, but it seems like a fabulous book for both my neurotypical child who has sensory and pragmatic speech issues (it was recommended for him) and my ASD child -- more the book's target market.

The book is aimed at kids who aren't, in the author's words, "truly mindblind". Which is to say the book is focusing one helping spectrum kids who have *some* awareness of other people -- and she sees this awareness as a sliding spectrum that operates independently of autism functionality. So, work on fixing the child's "Impaired Interactive Perspective Taking" skills instead of just focusing on teaching them the proper social response to various questions; help them learn to think about what the other person is thinking and feeling and proper responses will evolve more naturally.

A few sample points:

1) teaching a kid that once they're in close contact with someone, *everything* they do and/or say is communicating, not just the words that are explicitly spoken

2) teaching them that the people they talk to *remember* their last encounter and that it will change how they react to them

Just two short points, but they're things so intuitive to me, I'd never think to explain them to my kids.

Like I said -- it seems like a *really* useful book with lots of good strategies. It's also very positive about how you can help asd children get to a point where they can develop the best relationships with people that they're capable of, instead of just trying to get them to "pass for normal". It also seems useful (my son's therapist recommended it for both my kids, after all) for "socially awkward" kids like my son, who is extremely friendly but fundamentally lacks the understanding of why everyone doesn't want to play with him or listen to him lecture about South American lizards.

Good book.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, March 20, 2008

By 

Micki (West Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thinking About You, Thinking About Me (Paperback)

My son is mainstreamed with high functioning autism. It has been a huge struggle to not only have teachers understand what exactly he is struggling with but to implement a meaningful IEP.
This book is getting right to the point. It's intuative and well researched. It is not just a book about how to 'deal' with your child or student through accomodations but a book that will help you teach your child/student how to become socially aware as well as self-aware. Of all the social learning concepts out there (like Floortime and RDI) I feel that this is the most user friendly and common sense one - especially for the use in mainstream school.
I will be giving this book to every resource room teacher he is been working with.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource, April 22, 2010

By 

Kay - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thinking About You, Thinking About Me (Paperback)

After waiting with eager anticipation for this book I was not disappointed.
This is an excellent resource for teachers, parents and professionals.