Seven Bridges Therapy - Martinez

Much of our teachings are based on a group of leading specialists in Social Thinking® social communication, and self-regulation including Michelle Garcia Winner (Social Thinking®), Leah Kuypers (Zones of Regulation), Dr. Barry Prizant (SCERTS), Dr. Stanley Greenspan (DIR/Floortime), and our own lessons that we have developed over our years of practice. Michelle Garcia Winner (www.socialthinking.com) is a local groundbreaking therapist and author who specializes in the treatment of individuals with social cognitive deficits. Winner coined the term Social Thinking® to describe the ability of an individual to consider the points of view, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and intentions of others. Winner’s approach, which we embrace and expand upon in our groups, uses very functional ways to break down and teach abstract social-thinking concepts. For example, we support her idea that “our eyes have thoughts” and that a client can determine what others are thinking by following their eye gaze.

Here at Seven Bridges Therapy, we teach our clients how to be “social detectives” or “social spies” in and out of the therapeutic setting. We help them learn how to use their bodies, brains, eyes, and words to connect with other people, as well as how to understand the perspective of others and how they can influence those perspectives.

We help our clients learn about friendship, how to make a positive impression, and how to deal with the “boring moments.” We use visual cues and fun activities to practice these concepts and many others. Our clients thrive on visual cues and positive reinforcement. We set them up for success, catch them in the moment and praise them for sharing “expected” pro-social behaviors or having a “thinking of others moment.” Many of our clients are labeled the “trouble maker” or “lazy” and become accustomed to negative attention, as social-cognitive deficits can often be an invisible disability. It is our goal to break that pattern and help them have more positive social experiences. To address self-regulation, we integrate The Zones of Regulation curriculum developed by Leah Kuypers. The lessons and learning activities are designed to help the clients recognize when they are in the different Zones (states of arousal) as well as learn how to use strategies to regulate the zone they are in. In addition to addressing self-regulation, the clients will be gaining an increased vocabulary of emotional terms, skills in reading facial expressions, perspective on how others see and react to their behavior, insight on events that trigger their behavior, calming and alerting strategies, and problem solving skills.

Those with social cognitive deficits may have developmentally appropriate communication skills yet be unable to successfully apply those skills in the real world. If you or your child has difficulty with self-regulation and/or social learning, there is often a struggle with the use of language and feeling comfortable in social contexts. There may also be difficulties engaging in appropriate social interactions and uncertainty on how to act or “be” with other people. Our speech and language pathologists are skilled in working with all forms of language, including pragmatic language. Although you or your child may not exhibit a speech or language delay, social learning therapy can help if the need is to support or improve social communication. Being social, playing and “hanging out” is one of the most meaningful occupations in life. If someone is struggling with getting along with others, joining in with peers and participating in social events, our speech pathologists can teach the client to better understand the social environment and how to navigate it with more ease. Clients without a diagnosis or those with one of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), or other language disabilities including those with undiagnosed social learning challenges or social-cognitive thinking deficits, can greatly benefit from social learning therapy.

While many other organizations aim to improve social skills, Seven Bridges Therapy believes in a deeper approach that includes teaching and developing the critical thought processes that underpin all social interactions. As Lao Tzu said, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” We believe that if a person learns how to think about thinking and how to be social in his play, classroom, home, job, and community, the social skills he develops will serve him in all environments. In addition, we emphasize the role of the parent/caregiver/partner as a crucial and integral part of our approach. This involvement is a key factor in a client being able to carry over his new skills to all situations.

Speech therapy is almost always recommended for autistic children since many people with autism have difficulty with social communication. Even if a child is very verbal and says a lot of words, they might need to work on communication skills like: 

• responding to questions
• starting or ending conversation
• changing conversation topics
• using gestures like pointing
• understanding other people's body language 

Speech therapy is a big focus in early intervention for autistic children and is usually the starting place for recently diagnosed kids. There is a critical period in the brain for language development and so, it's really important to teach language and communication skills as early as possible, especially if there are any delays in that area. Your child will learn effective ways to communicate which will help them grow into more independent and confident individuals.

It might be obvious when a child struggles with speaking —they are very quiet, say only a few words, or don't speak at all.

Spot speech and language delays like a doctor here.

The goal of speech therapy is to help your child communicate effectively with other people across all environments. This may take the form of using gestures, simple signs, verbal speech, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).

Some other common things speech therapists can help with:

• Nonverbal skills, such as signs or gestures
• Forming speech in a clearer way
• Communicating thoughts and feelings clearly
• Understanding and responding to questions
• Discerning facial expressions and their corresponding emotions
• Noticing and understanding body language
• Feeding and swallowing
• Stuttering