You Are a Social Detective

by Michelle Garcia Winner, Pamela Crooke

Written by Michelle Garcia Winner and Pamela Crooke, this entertaining comic book offers different lessons that can be reviewed repeatedly with students who have higher-functioning autism, Asperger Syndrome, ADHD and other social-cognitive challenges. The comic book teaches these students how to recognize and develop social skills. Every one of us is a Social Detective. We are good Social Detectives when we use our eyes, ears, and brains to figure out what others are planning to do next or are presently doing and what they mean by their words and deeds. Enjoy watching your students and own children blossom day-by-day into successful Social Detectives! Elementary school-aged (K-5) students, and immature older middle and high school students who enjoy visual books, will benefit from this book. But this isn't just a book for students who have challenges relating to autism spectrum disorders, Asperger's, ADHD and like challenges. The lessons also offer a variety of engaging ways to introduce the concepts of social thinking to general education teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, caregivers, special educators, grandparents, siblings, daycare workers, scout leaders, etc.

Genres: Childrens, Education, Nonfiction, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Picture Books, Parenting

Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP, is the founder of Social Thinking and a globally recognized thought leader, author, speaker, and social-cognitive therapist. She is dedicated to helping people of all ages develop social-emotional learning, including those with social competency challenges. Across her 30+ year career she has created numerous evidence-based strategies, treatment frameworks, and curricula to help interventionists foster social competencies in those they support. Michelle's work also teaches how these competencies impact a person's broader life, including their ability to maintain relationships and their success in school and career. She continually retools her methods based on the latest research and inspiration from the clients she sees in her San Francisco Bay Area clinic.

Reviews

[Jonathan Peto]

I read another book by Michelle Garcia Winner a few months ago that was aimed at adults trying to understand "what makes a person with social cognitive deficits tick?" This one is to read with such a person, to use in trying to introduce a child (or adult, maybe) to concepts and vocabulary related to social thinking.

It includes three lessons in the back that could be used with a group of children, such as in a classroom setting, but those lessons do not comprehensively breakdown every important or big idea in the book. It's obvious that the book alone is not enough, and that is where you come in. You'd have to stop frequently and engage the child in the ideas and help them realize how those ideas connect to their life and experience. There's no choice but to give it a go, I think, and get better at it over time. Done well, I suspect it could take 15 or 20 sessions to finish the book as a read aloud, though I read it in less than an hour.

The author has self-published quite a few books, and I will read more of them. She is a dynamic speaker who really makes her ideas come alive. Basically, as you become more proficient by reading this book to its target audience (or to children in a class who need to develop more empathy toward someone with weak "social smarts"), you will be one step closer to illuminating for the child things that come quite naturally to most of us, things such as social cues for entering a group and showing that you are a part of it and distinguishing between what is expected behavior and what is not, but no book, including this one, is going to be the Holy Grail.

[Anne Snyder]

This book is a great book to help kids (or adults) become more socially aware and think through how others think about them, what is normal, and how their actions affect others and others' actions affect them. It's also interesting enough that I think kids would like it and grasp the ideas. In the back, it has some suggestions for practical lessons you can do with kids to help teach them to be aware of social skills and to develop their social smarts. In this way, they can become a social detective to learn how to relate to others. I recommend it to kids and adults alike!

[Lowell]

My 11-year old son struggles with understanding / learning what appropriate behavior is in social groups. In many ways, he is experiencing what I experienced at that age. The only difference being 30+ years ago there was not as helpful literature as there is now (at least, from my perspective, as no such tools were presented to me).

A local child therapist suggested this book to us. We're reading this together every couple days, and having a conversation based on simple questions related to this text.

Of course, time will be the only determinant for how well this helps him. But so far, I'm satisfied with and grateful for this book.

[Eva]

This book seems to mean well, but conflates the good with the normal to an appalling degree.

[Sophie]

Great for therapists

[Molly]

Great book for teaching social skills. Perspective taking. Expected vs unexpected behaviors.

[Alara]

Lovely and lets see if it works when I read it to my child 😀

[Krystal]

A bit wordy at times but excellent visuals of concepts.

[Amanda]

A must for teaching social skills.

[Tweedledum]

Brilliant! My students love it!