How to build social problem-solving skills (without being ableist)

How do you know if an intervention is neurodiversity affirming and evidence-based? Are child-led interventions actually in a child’s best interest? What’s the right way to build social skills, “pragmatic language” and social communication skills? I’ve done a lot of soul-searching surrounding this topic. The typical pragmatic language interventions that focused on preaching the “right” way to act in social situations never felt right to me. Yet I didn’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. So in this episode, I wanted to share the framework I currently recommend for teaching social problem-solving. The truth is, there are a lot of truly ableist practices going on; but there’s also a lot of misinformation (I know…such a buzzword these days!). That’s why I’m going to break down a couple key points to help therapists, teachers, and parents navigate through it all so they know how to raise well-adjusted kids. I share what I know from 4 different angles: Research/evidence-based practice, clinical experience, being a parent, and being neurodivergent myself.

Specifically, I’ll talk about:
✅The difference between academic language interventions and social-problem solving interventions (and why what works for one doesn’t work for the other).
✅Why many social skills groups and therapy sessions are ineffective in teaching kids social-problem solving skills.
✅How to help kids be more resilient, flexible, and effective at developing social relationships (without gaslighting them or being ableist). ✅What it really means to be “neurodiversity affirming” and “child-led”, and how to do it in a way that helps kids feel safe and secure.

In this episode, I explain why I approach academic language that build comprehension and processing in a much different way than I do social problem-solving. In light of that, I mention two different programs I offer for speech pathologists. First, I mentioned the Social Language Roadmap, which teaches a set of strategies designed to teach kids the social problem-solving skills they need to thrive in school, community, and vocational settings. It’s designed for SLPs, but may also be helpful to other people working with school-age kids. You can learn more about how to join the Social Language Roadmap here. Second, I mention Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that teaches speech-pathologists a framework for supporting the language process skills needed for strong reading comprehension, writing, and other academic tasks. You can learn more about how to join Language Therapy Advance Foundations here. The De Facto Leaders podcast was formerly the “Are they 18 yet?®” podcast. As of November 2022, the name of the show has changed, and we’ve shifted from a focus on parenting to a focus on supporting clinicians and educators to design effective services for kids (but parents are still welcome to listen). Episodes published before November 24, 2022 will still contain some of our old branding. 

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