The Speech House: Social Thinking: "Just Me" versus "Being Part of a Group"

Friday, February 3, 2012

Social Thinking: "Just Me" versus "Being Part of a Group"

Another concept taught in Michelle Winner's Social Thinking curriculum involves being a "Just Me" (borrowed from an old Munro Leaf book) versus a "Thinking of Others" type of person. "Just Me" behavior revolves around only thinking of yourself and what you want. "Just Me" behaviors include always wanting to be first, always wanting to play what you suggest instead of anything others might want to play, always wanting to be the winner in the games, only talking about topics of interest to you, not sharing, etc.Whereas "Thinking of Others" involves the opposite behaviors because you realize that others have feelings and desires too. Relationships are "give and take", not "take and receive". These lessons involve teaching children the art of compromise and learning to think, act, play as part of a group.

This seemingly simple lesson is not-so-simple to learn. I have had the experiences of completing this lesson, introducing a game, and being immediately met with "I will go first" or "I want to be the blue piece"... (sigh).

Here are some links on activities or video clips that might be useful in teaching this idea. I provide Youtube clip links to illustrate the ideas but as always (disclaimer) I suggest people purchase the actual videos of the movies referenced (you probably already own many of them) for actual use of the materials. Another SLP and blogger, SpeechTechie, has made an excellent suggestion to subscribe to Netflix for access to materials.

* As usual, check back periodically since I add newfound ideas into the old posts to keep things more organized and concise (so I can find them again when I need to use them).

Being a "Just Me"
"Mine" Seagulls scene from Nemo. I did not link to it but there is one clip that loops this soundtrack repeatedly for 10 minutes... that should convey the annoyance of this behavior effectively!

Cooperative games

Youth Group games

From Cindy Meester's Blog