Social Communication Therapy

Who Benefits from Social Communication Therapy?

Social communication therapy at BSPS helps children who:

• Have difficulty making or keeping friends
• Struggle to read nonverbal cues (facial expressions, body language)
• Take things very literally or miss sarcasm/jokes
• Have trouble with back-and-forth conversation
• Talk excessively about favorite topics without noticing others' interest
• Struggle with perspective-taking ("How would they feel?")
• Have autism spectrum disorder or social communication disorder diagnosis
• Have difficulty adjusting communication style to different situations

---

Signs Your Child May Need Social Communication Support

• Few or no close friendships despite wanting them
• Difficulty knowing what to say in social situations
• Interrupts frequently or talks "at" people
• Misses social cues that others pick up easily
• Says things that seem rude without realizing it
• Struggles with group conversations or play
• Takes things too literally
• Has difficulty resolving conflicts with peers
• Seems "out of sync" in social situations

---

Why Social Communication Therapy Matters

Social skills affect every area of life - friendships, school success, family relationships, and eventually careers and adult relationships. Children who struggle socially often experience:

• Isolation and loneliness
• Bullying or teasing
• Anxiety about social situations
• Lower self-esteem
• Academic challenges in group work

The good news: Social communication skills can be taught. With explicit instruction and practice, children can learn what doesn't come naturally.

---

What to Expect

Assessment

We evaluate pragmatic language skills, social understanding, and conversation abilities through observation and standardized measures.

Individualized Therapy

Therapy focuses on your child's specific challenges:

• Conversation skills - initiating, maintaining, and ending conversations
• Nonverbal communication - understanding and using facial expressions, tone, body language
• Perspective-taking - understanding others' thoughts and feelings
• Social problem-solving - navigating conflicts and social challenges
• Friendship skills - making and keeping friends
• Self-regulation - managing emotions in social situations

Real-World Practice

We practice skills in naturalistic situations, helping children transfer what they learn to real social interactions.

---

Our Approach to Pragmatic Language Therapy

• Explicit instruction - directly teaching what others learn intuitively
• Video modeling and social stories - visual examples of social skills
• Role-playing - safe practice of challenging situations
• Parent coaching - supporting generalization at home and school
• Collaboration with schools - coordinating with teachers and counselors

---

Gestalt Language Processing

Some children develop language differently, learning whole phrases or "chunks" of language (called gestalts) before breaking them down into individual words and original sentences. This is known as gestalt language processing (GLP), and it is an increasingly recognized pattern in language development, particularly among children on the autism spectrum.

A child using gestalt language processing may:

• Repeat phrases from movies, books, or conversations (often called "scripting" or echolalia)
• Use memorized phrases meaningfully in context
• Have difficulty generating original sentences even though they produce long memorized phrases

Understanding whether a child is a gestalt language processor helps us tailor therapy to support their natural language development pathway. At BSPS, our clinicians are trained to recognize and work with gestalt language processing, using strategies that honor the child's learning style while supporting progression toward flexible, self-generated language.

---