Social Thinking Vocabulary 1
Social Thinking Vocabulary **
Gail M. Purpura
Autism Support Consultant
Bucks County Schools Intermediate Unit No. 22
gpurpura@bucksiu.org
267-885-9125
To the Teacher:
Your student has been referred to me for social skills instruction. We are using Michelle Garcia
Winner’s “Think Social,” a social thinking curriculum. This is a highly regarded curriculum
designed for children with ADHD, high functioning autism, Asperger Syndrome, PDD-NOS,
nonverbal learning disabilities, and all others who are in the “murky gray” area of social
thinking.
The social thinking vocabulary is appropriate for all educators to learn and use for all students.
It is most effective for students who are learning the “Think Social” curriculum if all adults within
their various environments are using the same language. Please feel free to contact me if you
have any questions or need clarification regarding any of the information contained here.
Expected/Unexpected: Behaviors are either “expected” or “unexpected.” This terminology has
its basis in what other people expect our behaviors should be. If a person “expects” us to use
kind words, inside voices, etc. and we do, we are following “expected” behaviors. Screaming
indoors, kicking, hitting, etc., would all be “unexpected” behaviors. We also use “expected,”
and “unexpected” to describe doing what is “expected” in a group.
Thinking about me, thinking about you: I have adapted this to “thinking about ourselves
(myself) ” and “thinking about others.” This has its basis in the understanding (often difficult
for children on the spectrum to understand) that my behavior affects how others think about
me. If I am thinking about myself, I am not taking into consideration how my behavior is
affecting others. If I’m “thinking about others,” I am taking that into consideration. This
terminology can be used in providing instructions on group work, remaining on task in
discussions, playing at recess and general behaviors.
Whole body listening: Being a good listener means more than just hearing what is being said. It
is important to break down ALL the components of listening. Whole body listening means:
 Listening with the eyes: looking at the speaker; looking at others face and body
language so you can make a good guess about what they are thinking
 Listening with the mouth: closed and quiet, no talking, humming, making sounds OR
commenting on the subject when in a group
 Listening with the body: facing the speaker
 Listening with the hands: quietly at the side of the body, on the lap or quietly taking
notes
 Listening with the feet: standing still or quietly on the floor
2
Social Thinking Vocabulary


Listening with the brain: thinking about what the speaker is saying, what others are
doing to help make guesses about their actions/reactions
Listening with the heart: caring about what the speaker is saying
Personal Space: Stand or sit an arm’s length away from others. Sitting or standing too close is
referred to as “invading their space.”
Uncomfortable: This is the way others will think about you if you do unexpected things.
Making Smart Guesses: Knowing and choosing when to apply specific social skills, choosing
what words to say. This depends on our ability to “read” the situation and infer what actions to
take based on that situation
I can Change How you Feel/You can change the way I feel: Understanding that your behaviors
affect how other people relate to you and theirs affect you
The Social Fake: Sometimes, although we like another person, we get bored by what they’re
saying. The social fake means that we appear as though we’re interested because the
relationship is important to us. This means that we’re not always being entirely truthful. If your
mind wanders, we say “you’re not faking it well enough!”
FBI-ESP – Feel it big on the inside, express it smaller in public. (Controlling your emotions.)
Truth: Describing what you believe to be the facts, exactly as you know them.
White Lies: Stating information that you feel is not the total truth, but you do it to protect how
other people would feel. The white lie cannot cause harm to others in the long run. If someone
asks if you like their haircut, and you don’t, a white lie such as “it looks good on you,” might be
appropriate. Saying you hate it would be unexpected.
Bold-faced Lies: stating information that you know is false in order to protect yourself from
others becoming angry or disappointed with you. Sometimes bold-faced lies get other, innocent
people into trouble. Bold-faced lies are never acceptable or expected behaviors
Being Part of the Group: When in large groups, we might think that no one is paying attention
to us, so we don’t have to pay attention to them. They feel “invisible.” Being part of the group
says that it’s not good enough to listen. You have to be connected to the group and be aware of
the interactions among group members. You should be thinking what the group is thinking. You
should be talking about what the group is talking about. You should be doing what the group is
doing.
Blurts: An unexpected behavior: when a student calls out in class, makes unexpected (rude)
comments, interrupts conversations.
Getting “Stuck”: Thinking about one thing and not being able to get it out of your mind.
Becoming upset about something and not being able to get over it. Talking about one subject
and not being able to move forward or change the subject. The official word is “perseverating.”
Social Thinking Vocabulary 3
Be a Detective: Observe other people and try to figure out what they are doing, how they are
feeling, and what they may plan to do next. Simply: figuring out what people mean by what they
say
Smart Guess: guesses you make based on some information you have already learned. You try
to figure out the next logical piece of information based on what you already know. (inferences,
predicting)
Wacky Guesses: guesses you make when you don’t have enough information or solid clues.
Example: I ask “guess what color I’m going to wear to school tomorrow,” and you say “blue”
without any information. You might respond: “I don’t know, I don’t have enough information.!”
Reading People’s Emotions: Being able to form smart guesses about how people feel by looking
at their faces, body language, gestures and listening to their tone of voice
Conversation Street Vocabulary
Tunnel Vision: Thinking with your eyes. Talking without looking.
Overload Road: Talking without thinking about how the listener is taking in the message.
Tendency to provide too much detailed or scattered information.
Interruption Junction: You interrupt someone’s thoughts with your own thought or with an
inappropriate (unexpected) body movement. (Sometimes also called “bumping words.”
Dead-End Bend: You respond to someone else’s question by not giving any information for
someone to think about or respond to. Example: someone asks what you did today and you
respond “nothing.”
Missed the Turn: The conversation changed slightly onto another topic and you did not realize
it changed and you kept talking about the same old topic!
Detour: A person changes the topic when it’s not appropriate. (Someone else is talking about
the weather and you make a comment about trains.)
Cop Stop: Clearly inappropriate (unexpected) comments or actions, such as telling someone
he/she is ugly, walking away from the group while conversation is continuing
Crash Mash: Body language and tone of voice do not match what the words mean. (Yelling at
someone when you simply meant to share an idea.)
Speeding Ticket: Talking too fast
Running a Stop Sign: Making a lot of negative comments in a conversation so that people just
wish you would stop.
4
Social Thinking Vocabulary
Broken Engine: Completely ignoring the conversation with your body and your words.
One Way Street: Only talking about your interests
Carpool Lane: Sharing the conversational topic/asking questions about others
Good Driving Award: Doing everything just right!
** Taken from Michelle Garcia Winner’s “Think Social” and “Thinking About You/Thinking About
Me” social thinking curricula
Social Thinking Vocabulary 5