We are hardwired to connect with others, it s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. Brené Brown

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2 We are hardwired to connect with others, it s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. Brené Brown There are ever increasing options and solutions offered by hearing technology. There are more ways to connect wirelessly than ever before. Watching teenagers seamlessly streaming music and phone calls to their hearing technology. Young children using TV streamers so that their favourite television programmes is at a level perfect for their hearing loss. However there is still no magic adaptor for making and keeping friends. No magic software to interpret the thoughts and feelings of those around us to help us learn how to socially problem solve and multi-task. Talk to parents and they will tell you, technology is wonderful and clear speech and academic success for their children with hearing loss is important. But what they really want to know is whether their child is happy, communicating well with peers and thriving socially. So todays conference will address how, as professionals and parents, we can support these vital skills for thinking socially. I, Diana Harbor, will open the day and start to join the dots between hearing loss and social thinking, with a look at some research and share how the Ear Foundation team has been applying Social Thinking Principles with the children and teenagers we see. We are so excited to hear from our keynote speaker, Michelle Garcia Winner, who will spend the morning telling us about her Social Thinking Programme. The Social Thinking Methodology helps individuals with social learning challenges learn how to develop their social competencies to better connect with others and live happier, more meaningful lives. Michelle will explain the principles of the programme, which include theory of mind and executive function and guide you to lots of useful resources to take away and use. In the afternoon you can sign up for workshops on autobiographical memory, making effective use of role play and developing social thinking in an early year s programme. Lyndsey Allen will give our key note talk in the afternoon, exploring the importance of overhearing for developing theory of mind. Finally Kevin Feaviour will give us an exciting glimpse into another tool for developing life skills and building a community to practice our social thinking called ASSETS. From this conference we are hoping you will: Gain knowledge of latest trends and current research into social competence Connect with new ideas for growing social competence in all age groups Get an overview of what the Social Thinking Programme is about and what tools you can go away and use. Hear about ideas for engaging with families around social thinking Engage in interesting discussions Share and reflect on your daily practice with others Build a resource folder with materials and tools to use in your daily practice Take advantage of the opportunity to engage with our speakers during the breaks and lunch time and you will also get the opportunity to talk to our exhibitors, to whom we are also grateful for their support of this event. Leave this event inspired and challenged, whether parent or professional, for encouraging the skills needed for social competence. Let us help children with hearing loss be better equipped for making the connections they need, to feel OK about themselves, to make connections and to build friendships. Diana Harbor and the Ear Foundation team Social Thinking and Children with Hearing Loss 7 th November 2018

3 10: Welcome and Introduction Diana Harbor 10: Social Discovery part 1 Michelle Garcia Winner 12:00 12:45 LUNCH "Building connections to make friends" 12:45 14:00 Social Discovery part 2 Michelle Garcia Winner 14:00 14:15 BREAK 14: Workshops "What do my behaviours make people think and feel?" Workshop 1: Role Playing in context and practise: Joanna Hoskins and Karin Schamroth Workshop 2: Autobiographical memory: to remember who we are to predict where we are going: Clare Allen Workshop 3: Joining the dots in the early years: Lyndsey Allen and Diana Harbor 15:05 15:25 The importance of hearing and overhearing Lyndsey Allen 15:25 15:45 Building the qualities children will need for their futures Kevin Feaviour 15:45 16:00 Reflection activity and evaluation Joining the dots with hearing loss 7 th November 2018

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5 Michelle Garcia Winner Social Discovery part 1- "Building connections to make friends" Michelle Garcia Winner will be giving an introduction to the different elements that make up the social world. Looking at how some people navigate it naturally and others need a bit more support. Together we will familiarize ourselves with the elements and core vocabulary that can be taught explicitly through Social Thinking frameworks, specifically the 4 steps of Communication and Perspective Taking. Social Discovery part 2- " What do my behaviours make people think and feel?" This follow on talk will explore the tools available from the Social Thinking Programme that promote self regulation and executive functioning. This will include the excellent Social Behavior Mapping tool and also a brief introduction of the "Zones of Regulation" programme, used in many schools around the UK. Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC is a speech language pathologist who specializes in the treatment of students with social cognitive challenges, which includes diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger syndrome, ADHD/ADD, Twice exceptional and Non-verbal learning disorder, to name a few. She has a private practice in San Jose, California where she works with clients, consults with families and schools and she travels internationally giving workshops as well as being invited to train psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, and state policy makers. She presents many different all day workshops and helps to develop programs for schools and classrooms. Michelle is the founder of Social Thinking and the related treatment strategies. She has written or coauthored numerous books which are published through Think Social Publishing, inc. Michelle s goal is to help educators, psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health counsellors and parents appreciate how social thinking and related social skills are an integral part of students academic, vocational and community success. She was featured as a Social Thinking therapist in the 2016 Sundance Premiere Documentary; Life, Animated. She was honoured with a Congressional Special Recognition Award in Michelle believes we can all do far more to understand the social learning process and how we can teach more of these concepts to all students. Joining the dots with hearing loss 7 th November 2018

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7 Role Playing in context and practice Karin Schamroth and Joanna Hoskins In this presentation we will consider the use of role play in developing social communication skills through language interventions with d/deaf young people. We will discuss some of the associated theories to firmly locate role play within the wider field of therapeutic interventions. We will also explore how role play can be used in a variety of ways and settings and what practitioners need to consider when using this tool. When practitioners identify the young person s needs and match it to the appropriate role play technique, they are joining the dots. We will present in more detail one example of role play as used in smile Therapy, an innovative therapy that teaches communication strategies for everyday life skills. Further references and resources will be provided. Joanna Hoskin is a Specialist Speech & Language Therapist who has worked with d/deaf children and adults in education, mental health and residential settings, including at national tertiary settings. She has researched and published on intervention strategies for d/deaf children who had language, emotional or self-regulation issues. For her PhD she explored how Deaf practitioners work with children who have language learning difficulties in BSL. This led to the development of a short course run at City, University of London to support co-working with Deaf practitioners and SLTs. Joanna is keen to support the translation of research findings into practical tools that are accessible to people working with deaf children and young people. Discovering Who I am: A Group Resource for Children and Young People Working on Social and Emotional Wellbeing and Identity, Garwood and Hoskin 2018 Routledge Language Therapy in British Sign Language: A study exploring the use of therapeutic strategies and resources by Deaf adults working with young people who have language learning difficulties in British Sign Language (BSL) Karin Schamroth developed smile Therapy (Strategies and Measurable Interaction in Live English) in 2002 and has practiced the therapy with children from the age of 7 to adults aged 25 since then. Karin has trained Speech and Language Therapists, Teachers, Occupational Therapists, SENCO s, Educational Psychologists and Education staff all across the UK. The principles of the therapy she laid down in her book smile Therapy: Functional Communication & Social skills for deaf students and student with special needs, Schamroth & Lawlor, Routledge Publishing, Oct smile Therapy has been researched in several Masters Projects in the fields of Deafness and Autism. Originally developed for deaf children & young people it has since 2009, been successfully transferred to students who have communication needs due to Learning Difficulties, Autism, Developmental Language Disorders and Physical Disabilities. Karin is a Specialist Speech & Language Therapist, Clinical Lead in Deafness, Whittington Health NHS, Haringey, London. Joining the dots with hearing loss 7 th November 2018

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9 Autobiographical memory: to remember who we are to predict where we are going Clare Allen There is something about joining the dots between ourselves and others within social contexts and there is something about joining the dots within our own lives over time. Autobiographical memory helps us join these dots. It supports our sense of self, my identity and what makes me who I am. I remember my past, to understand my present and make choices / take actions which impact upon my future. In this workshop we will focus upon the importance of personal stories and how we as professionals and parents can encourage them. It will be a session which combines theory with practice in looking at strategies we, as professionals and parents, can use to build a child s personal memories into everyday activities and how this impacts upon the whole child s learning, academic progress and identity development. It s a tip toe into a hugely exciting area which gives insights, unlocks issues and helps us to better understand the children and young people we are supporting, with practical ideas of things to do next week and next month! Clare has been working as a Speech and Language Therapist since She has developed a specific interest in school aged children with specialist skills with deaf children. She has worked at schools, health centres and Nottingham Auditory Implant Programme She currently works at The Ear Foundation, Nottingham as Family Services Lead for 5 25s. Her focus is with children who use modern hearing technologies. She loves seeing children step forwards in fulfilling their potential. She has strong differential diagnosis skills and leads the 2 nd opinion team at The Ear Foundation. This means she loves working with children so that we can understand them better. She writes resources, runs children s and teenagers group activity days / weeks, and leads parents and professionals training events. She is the author of an extensive programme written at The Ear Foundation called LEAPing on with Language. This aims to accelerate spoken language learning from simple sentences to the complex and socially independent language use needed between the ages of It is now available as a free to access web site in English and has been translated into 5 different languages. She has a special interest in autobiographical memory and its positive impact on the whole child within their family, social and learning context. She is co-author of an exciting new social learning curriculum and a leadership training course for teenagers and young adults. Clare loves to travel and has presented at European and International CI conferences and worked globally with professionals, families and schools. She has strong research interests and has written papers on speech intelligibility and her work with LEAPing on with Language. When not working she is an everyday mum of 3 children. She believes in the impact families and professionals have for the good, and loves to encourage even small changes which will have positive impact upon a child or young person s development. Joining the dots with hearing loss 7 th November 2018

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11 Joining the dots in the early years: Getting it right from the start Diana Harbor and Lyndsey Allen The things that make me different are the things that make me Winnie the Pooh Children are social beings, who need to be in environments that encourage thinking, looking, listening and problem solving. When a baby is born, parents spend most of their time supporting the infant to regulate their emotions. We look for early signs of hunger or distress and give immediate comfort. Children gradually develop the ability to self-regulate their emotions, to perspective take and to learn how to be kind and co-operate with their peers. This allows them to be a valued part of groups and make and keep friends. Research into older children with hearing loss is beginning to show us that it is in these areas that children with hearing loss continue to struggle, despite better technology, and language and listening outcomes. This workshop will explore how we need to look at young children through a different lens, a social thinking lens. Together we ll have a go at recognising what these skills look like during play and how we encourage them both at home and in an early years settings. Children are unique and as such, can learn to navigate the social world in different ways. We ll discuss how to recognise a child s strengths so we can build upon their competence to develop their social thinking. Diana Harbor Diana is dual trained as a Speech and Language Therapist and Audiological Scientist and joined the Ear Foundation s education and family team in 2005.She develops and presents courses both in the UK and with our partners abroad. One of her favourite projects is working with teams of teaching assistants, using blended learning packages around supporting teenagers with hearing loss. Diana s other key role is co-leading the Ear Foundation s teens and young leaders programme,helping develop a holistic curriculum that promotes managing hearing technology, academic and social success. She is passionate about developing the life and thinking skills that are rooted early in life that promote positive well-being in children with hearing loss. Finally Diana is part of the team developing adult private cochlear implant services, involved in the fitting and rehabilitation side of this service. Lyndsey Allen It seems I ve always thought about communication and hearing loss, that s why I learnt sign language when I was still at school. I went on to train as speech and language therapist, supporting children across the age range and in all types of educational settings. Joining the Midlands auditory implant programme UK, I trained as an auditory verbal therapist. With a large multi-cultural population and much social deprivation, we worked hard to make services effective for the families we served. I became interested in the messages we send to families, how we let them know - they have what it takes to help their child learn to listen and speak. As director of clinical services at The Ear Foundation, I mentor others to become auditory verbal therapists, provide professional education around the globe, and help to shape and deliver all our services. I m inspired every day as I watch parents and professionals grow in confidence and skills. And I know that I m helping children with hearing loss reach their wonderful potential. Joining the dots with hearing loss 7 th November 2018

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13 The importance of hearing and overhearing Lyndsey Allen Hearing loss is not a learning disability. But not being able to hear, affects how we access information from those around us. We ll explore the importance of hearing for the development of attention and discuss how not being able to overhear, can impact learning for social thinking. We ll look at audiological access and argue that for children with hearing loss to reach their wonderful potential, access to soft speech and speech in noise is essential. It seems I ve always thought about communication and hearing loss, that s why I learnt sign language when I was still at school. I went on to train as speech and language therapist, supporting children across the age range and in all types of educational settings. Joining the Midlands auditory implant programme UK, I trained as an auditory verbal therapist. With a large multi-cultural population and much social deprivation, we worked hard to make services effective for the families we served. I became interested in the messages we send to families, how we let them know - they have what it takes to help their child learn to listen and speak. As director of clinical services at The Ear Foundation, I mentor others to become auditory verbal therapists, provide professional education around the globe, and help to shape and deliver all our services. I m inspired every day as I watch parents and professionals grow in confidence and skills. And I know that I m helping children with hearing loss reach their wonderful potential. Joining the dots with hearing loss 7 th November 2018

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15 Assets for Success and Imagine if Kevin Feaviour The Assets for Success programme has been developed by Imagine If and its founders Kevin Feaviour and Louise Cole. Kevin will be explaining how Assets for Success has been developed to support people to develop skills that are essential for learning, employment and throughout their lifetime. Assets has a philosophy deeply rooted in focussing on people s strengths and building capability to better respond to day to day challenges, now and in the future; the goal is about enabling long-term success, where people thrive and flourish, improving well-being, social connectedness and employability. Kevin will be giving an overview of how the Assets for Success programme has been used and, in particular, the co creative work that he has been doing with The Ear Foundation. Assets is now a central part of the curriculum with the children and teenagers at the Ear Foundation. We are excited to share this partnership. Joining the dots with hearing loss 7 th November 2018

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