Superflex... A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum

Superflex... A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum

By Michelle Garcia Winner

This is my second year using this social thinking curriculum with my students who have social weakness'.

"Superflex®: A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum provides educators, parents and therapists fun and motivating ways to teach students with Asperger Syndrome, high-functioning autism, ADHD and other diagnosed and undiagnosed social difficulties how to build social thinking skills. Superflex combines a book, comic book and CD to create a curriculum that develops in each student's brain their own superheroic thinking processes that can overcome the challenges in different social situations that arrive across the school and home day.

The curriculum works best with elementary school children (grades K-5) as well as with immature older students who respond to visual books. Prerequisite books to make this tool most effective include Thinking About You Thinking About Me and You Are A Social Detective."

~Taken from socialthinking.com

I use this curriculum with students in elementary school from grades K-5.  My students really enjoy the concept of trying to think "superflex" (be just like the superhero in the comic book), and they also like coming up with their own unthinkables (comic book villains) that are not in the comic book.  They enjoy thinking of unthinkables that they see other kids being "taken over by."  Then they get to practice defeating these unthinkables with superflexible strategies that we also create.

Below is a picture of The Unthinkables...

In my opinion, the concept of this social curriculum works very well with all children.  You can come up with a superhero and villains for any area of need and it is an activity the students really enjoy doing and can relate to.  Many of my students also love to take their unthinkables home and teach their families about them and how we can defeat them so they don't take over our brains.