Information about the 2012-2013 Social Thinking Mentor Training will be posted by April 1, 2012. Details will also be announced via our email newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter by clicking here.

About the Program

Social Thinking Mentor Training for professionals program has been running since 2003. The program has received excellent reviews for being practical for focusing on how to put social thinking concepts into practice! The program offers professionals opportunities to observe sessions at our Social Thinking Center in San Jose, CA, and to participate in group discussions about core concepts related to treatment and assessment. The program consists of three days of training in Social Thinking concepts and demonstration therapy across a range of students. 

Requirements for participating in mentor-training

Individuals eligible for consideration for our program will have attended at least two full days of social thinking workshop led by one of our trainers (Michelle Garcia Winner, Stephanie Madrigal or Dr. Pam Crooke) and/or have at least read Inside Out: What Makes a Person with Social Cognitive Deficits Tick? and Thinking About You Thinking About Me, 2nd Edition. We seek participants who can engage with each other at an advanced discussion level about these concepts. The program is not intended as a time for teaching social thinking 101.

1. Meet as a group with Michelle, Stephanie and/or Pam for 1.5 hours each day to discuss the individual questions of members of the group as well as prepare the group for what to observe in the clinic. During this time we specifically review the internal perspective taking scale we are creating, but have not released to the public, as to how we rate kids’ theory of mind, behavior, and cognitive skills to best assess how to group them. A full assessment is almost always done during this week.  The group will discuss assessment strategy, observe the assessment and then discuss after the assessment how to interpret the information and how best to represent these students during report writing. The written report from the assessment is later sent to the participants for them to see how the ideas were discussed in the report.
2. Observation in the clinic of most of the students who attend each day. Trainees observe treatment sessions, watching how the social thinking lessons are applied across a range of therapists and different ages of students at the clinic; preschool through high school. Behavioral and social cognitive strategies are discussed after observations. Total time spent in the clinic per day during training is 6-8 hours, for 3 days total.
3. Collaboration is encouraged between the different members of the international/national group who attend the training. We recommend a hotel and encourage all participants to stay at the same hotel to encourage networking, etc.
4. Names of the individuals who participate in the mentor training are posted on our website along with their district and/or private practice affiliations for the public to see who has received this level of training in each state of the US, or countries around the world.
5. Attending this training then permits the participant to partake in other levels of social thinking professional training such as the Social Thinking Internship Program.

Learning Objectives and ASHA CEUS:

1. Participants will be able to describe the 6 levels of the Social Thinking-Social Communication Profile™ (ST-SCP™).
2. Participants will be able to describe how to use the scale to group clients for treatment.
3. Participants will describe the use of 2 different Informal dynamic assessment tasks and define how these are different from standardized assessments for functional treatment plan development.
4. Participants will observe at least 9 hours of therapy and be able to discuss how different therapists teach similar concepts differently.
5. Participants will be able to have multiple opportunities to observe clients and attempt to determine a client’s ST-SCP functioning level.
6. Participants will describe how cognition, perspective taking, language skills and sensory skills relate to developing a functional treatment plan.

ASHA members: (SLPs) This program is offered for 2.2 CEU’s, intermediate level, professional area. Forms will be filled out on the first day of mentor training to register for these CEUs.

About the Program

STMT programs are conducted on a monthly basis throughout the school year.  There are only 7 spaces available in each of the three day trainings.  In response to the demand to participate in the training program we have changed our method of awarding candidate placements.  Application submissions have been collected from late February  through May 1 and applications are no longer accepted.  

• Notifications of placement or non-placement will be emailed by June 15, 2011 
• Only complete applications are given to our  training team for consideration and placement
• The ONLY way to secure a space in the training is if you met the deadline and followed the process.
• We do not hold spaces for individuals calling or emailing to inquire about the program. 
• There are no discounted tuitions and no scholarships are offered for this program given the demand for this program tremendously exceeds supply. 
• Applicants are chosen, in part, based on how many students they serve in the community. Parents or professionals working with a very small group of students are less likely to be accepted. Applicants who are not chosen to be considered for participation in our program or those who are placed on our wait list will receive a letter from us explaining their status in the program and their check will be voided and returned to them.

STMT Payment Schedule

The total cost of the Social Thinking Mentor Training program is $1,150 (USD).

• A deposit of $250 (USD) must accompany your application for the program.  This amount will be applied to your total program tuition. Please make this check out to “STC” or Social Thinking Center.
• Upon notification of placement in the STMT program, another non-refundable $250 (USD) will be due in order to hold your spot in the program.  This has been added as a requirement given the high number of last minute cancellations we had in the past.
• The balance of your tuition, $650 (USD), will be due 45 days prior to the start date of your training. If the payment is not paid 45 days prior to the training, your spot will be forfeited and we will place another person in this position. Since most participants travel from around the country, a replacement would need ample notice to attend the STMT.
• Think Social Publishing will send invoices and track payments of the mentor accounts.  We will communicate with candidates regarding the status of payments prior to the final deadline for payments due.

Cancellations & Withdrawals

Many people are interested in participating in this program with a limited number of STMT spaces available during any given school year.  Due to the unique difficulties that our clinic and the “waitlist” candidates may encounter if called at the last minute to fill a cancellation slot, we have constructed a strict policy regarding cancellations.

• You may withdraw your initial application and receive a partial refund of your initial deposit any time up until you have been notified of acceptance into the program.  We will retain $50 to cover our administrative costs.

• Once a candidate is placed in the program any cancellation will result in forfeiting deposited monies.  If the cancellation is due to a medical necessity, we will retain your deposited money and put you back on the waitlist. IF we can place you in a STMT group in the future, your deposited monies will apply to the fee for that group. However, if at the time you attend the group the STMT tuition has increased, you will be responsible for the higher tuition cost.

• If you submit your application along with your $250.00 (USD) deposit and we are NOT able to place you in a STMT group for that school year, your deposit check will be returned in full along with a letter explaining you have either not qualified to participate in the program or you have been placed on the waitlist.

Pretraining Reading for Mentor-Training Program

Participants in the mentor program are required to read the following articles prior to mentor training:

The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Brief Report: Measuring the Effectiveness of Teaching Social Thinking to Children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA): Pamela J. Crooke, Ryan E. Hendrix, Janine Y. Rachman

Assessment of social skills for students with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism. Assessment for Effective Intervention. Published by Winner, M

Using 'social building blocks' - from play into academics... Thoughts on how social skill deficits also relate to academic performance

Comments from Mentor-Program Participants:

"I have attended multiple workshops, read countless books and articles and worked with this population for over two years, but nothing has been as empowering as the Mentor Training I received at the Social Thinking Clinic. It's like the difference between reading and hearing about how to do the tango and then actually having someone show you! To be able to watch a variety of therapy styles used and see the student responses triggered all my therapy instincts. I couldn't wait to get back to my students and apply what I learned."
Cherie Bennett, Social Thinking Mentor, Pathway Speech and Language, Inc.

“The mentoring week at Michelle Garcia Winner’s clinic far exceeded my expectations. Michelle and her staff were incredibly generous with their wealth of ideas, strategies and materials. Seeing highly skilled and creative therapists in action is the best way to learn!”
P. Taboni, Speech Language Pathologist in private practice.

“The mentoring week offered opportunities to observe approaches for addressing social cognitive difficulties skillfully put into action in individual and group therapy sessions, opportunities to confer with Michelle and her stellar staff and to practice the skills the staff modeled. I found the mentoring week to be a very effective way to deepen my understanding of the ILAUGH model and to gain numerous ideas for effective and creative techniques and activities to incorporate into my therapy practice. I would highly recommend this experience to any educator who works with individuals with social cognitive deficits.”
C. Durbin, Speech Language Pathologist at Child Development Center at California Pacific Medical Center