About Michelle Garcia Winner

Michelle Garcia Winner Michelle received a bachelor degree in Speech Language Pathology from UC Santa Barbara in 1982. She then received her master’s degree from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1985.

She has worked as a speech language pathologist in a variety of settings including the elementary and secondary levels of public school, in neuro-cognitive rehabilitation programs for persons with head-injuries and strokes and in a clinical research program in Bloomington, Indiana under the mentorship of Nancy Dalrymple.

Michelle found her way into the field of speech language pathology after picking up a book on what is known today as “classical autism” back in the late 70’s. She took a course on autism at UCSB that was taught by Dr. Robert Koegel.

This course was taught through the department of speech and language. Thus, Michelle’s early interest in autism paved the way for her field of study.

In 1995 Michelle accepted a job with a public high school district and there she began to learn about students at the high end of the autism spectrum, those with Asperger Syndrome. Given her background in autism and cognitive rehabilitation, she was able to understand how to create a treatment program for these “smart” but socially limited students. The clinical work Michelle was providing through the school district appeared to have a positive impact on the students. Thus, Michelle gave her first workshop in 1998 at her profession’s state convention. At that time she introduced the I LAUGH framework of social cognition. Invitations soon followed for her to provide more public workshops and soon parents were calling her requesting that she go into private practice.

She entered into private practice in 1999. Her practice was originally named “Michelle G. Winner, SLP", but now that she has a full staff working with her, the name of the clinic is being changed to “Michelle G. Winner's Center for Social Thinking” to better reflect her business’s role in the community.

Michelle has written four books, "Think Social! A Social Thinking Curriculum for School-Age Students" (2005), "Worksheets! for Teaching Social Thinking and Related Skills" (2005), "Thinking About You Thinking About Me" (2002) and "Inside Out: What Makes The Person With Social Cognitive Deficits Tick" (2000). Michelle has also made two DVDs of her workshop days in conjunction with The Gray Center: "Strategies for Organization: Preparing for Homework and The Real World (2003)" and "Social Thinking Across the Home and School Day (2003)". She self-publishes her books nationally, making them available at www.socialthinking.com and for sale outside of North America from Jessica Kingsley Publisher (www.jkp.com).

Michelle is known internationally for her user-friendly approach and engaging speaking style. She has been an invited speaker at conferences and workshops for educational districts across America, including the national conference put on by The Gray Center, The Linguisystems National Conference and at Stanley Greenspan’s ICDL conference in Virginia.

Michelle also consults to school district in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as across the nation. She has worked with Andrea Walker’s SUCSESS project in Orange Country for 3 years helping their staff to develop plans for helping them serve the older child. Michelle continues to write journal and magazine articles with her insights on social cognition. Her greatest areas of self-study currently involve the exploration of perspective taking (Theory of Mind) and its impact on many different aspects of functioning, and the complex array of skills demanded when we request students to “get organized”. Michelle is developing treatment ideas around both of these areas with a focus on how to determine what we need to help teach students in the elementary and secondary years to help them move forward to be increasingly productive and independent persons as they approach their adult years.

The title that best fits Michelle now is “Specialist for Persons With Social Cognitive Deficits”. Michelle is passionate about educating all persons, parents, educators, administrators and students about the real impact of social cognitive deficits across the home, school and work day. She is convinced that we can do more to help students find increasing levels of success as adults.

Day One: Social Cognitive Deficits Across the School and Home Day: The ILAUGH Model of Social Cognition.

Designed for parents & professionals to understand the inner mind of persons high on the Autism Spectrum (Asperger Syndrome, PDD-NOS or High Functioning Autism), with ADHD, Non-Verbal Learning Disability or have no working diagnosis but they fit the clinical picture! Participants will learn not only functional treatment strategies they can use both at school and at home, but they will also better understand why these students' react and respond the way they do.

On this day we will introduce the I LAUGH model of Social Cognition which helps to demonstrate how social processing difficulties impact not only social skills but also the ability to work as part of a group and focus on specific academic tasks such as written expression, reading comprehension and organizational skills for many of our students.

We will also address how best to approach writing IEP goals that impact real, albeit, slow change in how students understand the world around them. Concepts related to assessment will also be introduced and the problem with using only standardized tests to qualify these students will also be explored. This workshop is noted for its depth in explaining WHY students with social skills difficulties have related academic challenges, which impact them across their school and home day.

Day Two: Looking Into the Mind with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Like Disabilities: Exploring how Informal Assessment, Mental Health and Adult Transition Issues Link to Practical Program Development.

Traditional standardized tests rarely capture the complex nature of social interaction, yet social competence is at the heart of success for our students both at school and as they head out into the adult world.

In this workshop, we will take a fascinating look at videos of students learning Michelle Garcia Winner's "Three Steps of Perspective Taking." Videotaped students range in age from five to adult, and exhibit a wide array of cognitive and social cognitive functioning, ranging from classical autism to very high level Asperger Syndrome and ADHD.

Informal assessment tasks will be explored and pathways to treatment discussed. Participants will discover what information to consider when deciding how to best include students with the mainstream population. A handout will be provided outlining treatment options across the autism spectrum. Mental health issues related to this population will be explored, and cognitive behavioral strategies will be reviewed.

Specific strategies for working with older students and adults will also be presented, as well as strategies for promoting better transitions to adulthood. We will address how to blend social and academic teaching to better prepare students for more competent daily functioning.

The information, while essential to professionals who are on assessment/treatment teams, will also help parents and professionals to understand the core thinking of the mind with social learning weaknesses.