These posters are visual tools that encourage kids to use self-regulation and flexible-thinking throughout the day! Once children are using the Superflex: A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum, hang these posters in your classroom, clinic, or home to remind kids of the strategies they’ve learned and to help you strengthen teachable moments. New to Superflex? See what it’s all about in this short article.

The Unthinkables* poster (we are officially changing Unthinkables to UnthinkaBots over the course of 2021-22) depicts the 14 original characters, their names, and anti-social powers. The Thinkables poster depicts the 14 counterpart cast, their names, and the Unthinkable each character helps to defeat. When you compare the two posters, you’ll see that each Unthinkable and corresponding Thinkable are placed in the same location on each poster. Due to popular request, the posters are now smaller! Dimensions: 18" width x 24" length each.

A diverse group of kids as Superflex joins the cast on each poster—reinforcing that Superflex lives inside each child. Drive this concept home with our free Superflex is Me handout!

Teaching Tips from Michelle & Pam

We use this poster set with our other Superflex products to help kids develop superflexible powers. The posters remind kids of the characters and help them build awareness of when an Unthinkable is invading their brain and which Thinkable can help. We use Superflex Superdecks to teach the Thinkable strategies (also found in the back of Unthinkable and Thinkable storybooks). Once the child has identified the invading Unthinkable and figured out which Thinkable strategy to use, it’s time for he or she to self-regulate and defeat the Unthinkable! We also take time to celebrate each child’s increasing superflexible abilities as they amass a larger team of Thinkables that can assist them whenever needed. Remember to focus on the positive and celebrate learning!

*Name Change from the Team of Unthinkables to the Team of UnthinkaBots

We have officially changed the name of the Team of Unthinkables to the Team of UnthinkaBots. The Superflex curriculum was born in 2008, and over its lifetime we have relied on input and ideas from clients, students, families, teachers, and therapists in both the neurodivergent and neurotypical worlds. Using their feedback and our own clinical experience, we have refined the curriculum series to include Thinkables, expand the characters in Social Town, and add the You Are a Social Detective, 2nd edition, storybook as a way to welcome social learners into the Superflex Universe. Recently, while meeting with neurodivergent adults, we discovered that the concept behind the creation of the Unthinkables was misunderstood and, at times, misused in classrooms and clinics by having certain Unthinkables represent children or people, rather than specific thoughts or actions.

To encourage interventionists to use these concepts in the manner intended, we are changing the name of Unthinkables to UnthinkaBots. With this new name, social learners can now imagine the Bots that try to control some of our thoughts and actions. For example, Was Funny Once releases SillyBots to get us to use humor at unexpected times and in unexpected situations. We all can learn to tackle the SillyBots with strategies and tools from the Social Thinking® Methodology. We hope you will enjoy imagining new ways to think about the UnthinkaBot characters in classrooms, small groups, and at home! One more thing. We replaced 4 of the 14 “first generation” characters with new names: Mean Bean (previously Mean Gene/Jean), Me-Gull (formerly One-sided Sid), Body Drifter (formerly Body Snatcher), and Blurt Out Blue (formerly Grump Grumpaniny).

We will be updating our products with these changes over the course of 2021 and 2022. It makes sense that we’re teaching students to be superflexible, since we, as publishers, also flex a lot as we learn. We hope you enjoy incorporating these important updates.