Social Learning, a Cat and an Emperor

The Sunnyvale Theater has two great plays for children coming up.

Puss in Boots, that famous fairy tale about a clever cat who uses trickery to get his master power, wealth and  the princess at the end being performed at the Sunnyvale Community Center one last time on Feb 07, 2015 at 11:00 AM.

The Emperor's New Clothes is being performed March 7, 2015 April 4, 2015 at 11:00 AM. This story reveals the foolishness of a vain Emperor who wears fake clothes made of cloth  so special he cannot see it! He is exposed when a child yells out that the Emperor has no clothes.

The great thing about both of these plays is that they allow to think about what others are thinking and how these thoughts differ from our own. Puss the clever cat uses lies to create a new identity for his master - from clothes to castle. And while no parent wants to encourage their child to lie, the concept that we use language to manipulate other people is developmentally appropriate. Just take a look what kids can do:

Age 3-4: begins using language for fantasies, jokes, teasing.
Age 4-5: develops basic understanding of Theory of Mind*
School Age: demonstrates increased understanding of Theory of Mind (e.g., read body language, facial expressions, taking the perspective of another and modifying language use accordingly
(Source: ASHA Social Communication Benchmarks)

*Theory of Mind is the ability to understand that one's mental and emotional state is unique from others'. People with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other social/pragmatic difficulties tend to lack Theory of Mind. Here's a video that shows some Theory of Mind in action during play.

Trickery and lying are a combination of understanding your own thoughts, the thoughts of others and using language to manipulate actions or outcomes. The ability to understand our own thoughts as separate from others' is a skill taught by speech language pathologists to kids with social learning or pragmatic difficulties.

So how do we teach kids about people's different thoughts and actions? This isn't easy, since the cues we pick up on - facial expression, body language, or tone of voice - are things most people intuit. Kids with social communication difficulties (difficulty with Theory of Mind or perspective taking) need to learn these skills explicitly. 

The Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems are an excellent resource and starting point for talking about perspective (Find "I Broke My Trunk" here). The books have a clear story, are simply drawn and use a great tool for perspective talking: thinking and talking bubbles! Here are some suggestions while talking about the plays, watching friends on the playground or reading the Elephant and Piggie books:

- Teach kids about thinking and talking bubbles. What is thinking versus talking? How do these bubbles look different?
- Point out how you know what Piggie or Elephant is feeling. Is it a facial expression? What does it mean when Piggie leans towards Elephant with his hands to his mouth?
- Once Elephant told Piggie he broke his trunk, what might Piggie say next in his talking bubble?
- What might Piggie do next? Make a smart guess together.
- Does Elephant know what Piggie will do next? How and why?

These are just some of the questions I would ask kids when addressing perspective thinking. The idea is that we don't always know what other people are thinking but we do have clues from what we see (facial expressions), what we hear (tone of voice), and what we think they want (motivations and goals).

Enjoy the show.
Michelle Lachman
Schedule your free consultation today: 1.408.365.4423 / mlachman.speech@gmail.com