Learn about learning, from the adjacent discipline of speech therapy
Assumed Knowledge: Understanding and Strengthening the Core of Social Cognition in Neuro-Divergent Clients
Presented by Speech Pathologist Anna Vagin, PhD
2 CEs available
Free for Marin CAMFT members and reciprocal chapter members!
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PLEASE NOTE: Marin CAMFT has made a slight change to how our Zoom meetings work: After you sign up here, you'll be sent instructions on how to complete a separate registration step with Zoom. You'll need to complete that registration step in order to get your Zoom link. You can do it in advance, or right before the meeting begins. Each person will get their own personal Zoom link. This lets us more accurately track attendance in the Zoom meeting for our compliance purposes as a CE provider.
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Workshop Description
Today we are offering a cross-disciplinary opportunity to learn from an expert in speech-language pathology, focusing on how therapists can better support our neuro-divergent clients. This presentation will offer an overview of speech and language pathology, with a focus on pragmatics and social cognition. We will review common diagnoses of clients who have social cognitive differences, as well as frequent areas of focus when working on peer social relationships.
Cognitive “core” abilities such as resilience, flexibility and the use of mental state verbs (verbs that reflect internal processes, such as “remember”, “decide”, “hope”) are critical for discourse development, academic success, social understanding, conversational competence, and collaborative goal-writing. Yet, research tells us that clients with language and social differences often do not develop the understanding and use of mental state verbs in the same way as their neurotypical peers. These mental state verbs are often the foundation for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. However, many social learning concepts like flexibility, cooperation and motivation, based in mental process, are complicated to define – they all depend on where you are and what’s happening. For clients with learning differences, covering these concepts solely via verbal discussion may be insufficient. The more we can make these abstract ideas visible to our clients, the more they will truly understand them.
Emotional vocabulary is similarly a foundation to social relationships, regulation, empathic understanding, academics, and overall quality of life. Clients with social cognitive differences may need more time and practice in identifying varying sizes of emotions, contrasting perspectives and emotional states, as well as understanding how our actions can result in emotional shifts in those around us.
The presentation will cover activities that speech language pathologists use to build these important skills, sharing techniques from speech therapy to help psychotherapists support their neurodivergent clients. This includes use of engaging animated videos to build emotional and MSV vocabulary, which can help move clients from character discussion to self-reflection. We will review research that supports using materials that move as material for social and emotional learning, addressing one of the primary deficits in many clients with autism.
We will also review the use of SocialScales to non-judgmentally concretize cognitive and emotional abstractions. Unlike numerical scales, SocialScales focus on positioning, not ranking, empowering clients to see where they are and explore new possibilities. The focus is on the individual, rather than comparison to a neurotypical standard, and they can be used by clients to self-advocate for what is right for them.
We will end the presentation with several case studies and group discussion.
Audience
Appropriate for mental health clinicians working with clients from older elementary (3rd-4th grade) into adulthood. The presentation will focus on individuals with social cognitive differences, such as, but not limited to: Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Social Anxiety, Cognitive Differences, Twice Exceptional, and Situational (Selective) Mutism.
Educational Goals
This presentation will provide an understanding of the role of speech language pathologists with clients with social cognitive differences. Participants will learn how mental state verbs are critical for optimal development, and will be given resources to support emotional and social learning, including videos and animation-based activities to expand emotional vocabulary and understanding of abstract social concepts, and training on how to create client-specific, customized SocialScales that they can immediately begin using with their clients.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this workshop, participants should be able to:
- Define pragmatics and social cognition
- Explain what mental state verbs are and how they impact cognitive, academic and social functioning
- Use an animated video to support clients in moving from character discussion to self-reflection
- List at least three benefits of using scales and continuums to help clients understand abstract social concepts and relationship challenges
- Describe how, using non-judgmental, ND affirming language, scales and continuums can be individualized to support clients in identifying where they are on a continuum, where they would like to be (their goal) and what tools and supports can help them succeed
- Explain the importance of allowing neurodiverse individuals to advocate for what is right for them, rather than mask to conform to a neurotypical standard
Presenter Anna Vagin
Anna Vagin, PhD, is a licensed speech/language pathologist with over 30 years of experience. Her particular interests are using media and gaming, including Therapeutically Applied Role-Playing Games**, to support students with social cognition and language differences, and the role of mental processes in communication, relationships, and life satisfaction. She provides consultation to parents and schools, is a frequent US and International speaker, and a prolific writer/contributor on topics related to social cognition.
Providing innovative materials to parents and clinicians working in social cognition, Anna is the author of Movie Time Social Learning (2013) and YouCue Feelings: Using Online Videos for Social Learning (2015), and the developer of the Conversation Paths Pack Expanded Version2.0 (2021), SocialScales: Make Social Learning Visible (2025), and various materials to support emotional and social development. Her website is https://www.socialtime.org
**Therapeutically Applied Role-Playing Games (TA-RPG) are based on DIR/Floortime and CBT approaches, and are used by a range of professionals (mental health clinicians, speech pathologists, school counselors, and teachers) across a broad range of settings.
PLEASE NOTE: This event will be recorded. By registering for this event you are consenting to a recording being made which may include your voice and/or image. This recording may be available for review and downloading. By registering for this event, you are agreeing for your likeliness to possibly be used by Marin CAMFT.
You will be sent instructions on how to register with Zoom to get your personal Zoom link to use for attendance. Please read the email confirmation you receive after signing up on the Marin CAMFT website for these instructions.
Attendance at the live event in full and completion of the evaluation at the end qualifies for 2 hours of Continuing Education (2 CEUs).
Date: Friday, April 11
Time: 12:00 to 2:00 pm Pacific
Cost: Free for Marin CAMFT members and reciprocal members, $30 for non-members.
Location: Online via Zoom. Instructions for registering with Zoom, in order to receive your Personal Zoom Join Link, will be sent in your confirmation message from Marin CAMFT. You will need to complete that second Zoom-registration step in order to receive your Zoom Link by email.
Additional Information about Marin CAMFT CE Programs
For more information about the Friday Continuing Education Series or about joining the Marin CAMFT Continuing Education Committee, please contact our Director of Programs Norman Hering.
- Continuing Education: This workshop meets the qualifications for 2 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LEPs and/or LPCCs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. These CEs will be provided by Marin CAMFT (CAMFT Provider # 56895), which is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs. We regret that at this time we are not able to provide CE units for Licensed Psychologists. Participants must attend the full duration of the program (on Zoom, or in person, per event details above) and complete the course evaluation to receive the CE completion certificate. Marin CAMFT maintains responsibility for this program and its contents. Contact our Director of Programs for more information.
- Continuing Education Goal: Marin CAMFT is committed to offering continuing education courses to train LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs to treat any client in an ethically and clinically sound manner based upon current accepted standards of practice.
- Refund Policy: Our refund policy requires a $20 processing fee, and we must be notified in advance of the event if you would like to cancel. We do not provide refunds in case of non-attendance by the registrant. Please contact our Director of Programs with any questions.
- Request for Accommodations: If you need accommodations for this event, please contact the Director of Programs.
- Grievance Procedure: Marin CAMFT will respond to complaints in a reasonable, ethical and timely manner, when submitted by program attendees in writing to the Director of Programs.
- Anti-Discrimination Policy: Marin CAMFT shall not discriminate against any individual or group with respect to any service, program or activity based on gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, creed, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, ability, or other prohibited basis. Marin CAMFT does not require attendees to adhere to any particular religion or creed in order to participate in training. Marin CAMFT will not promote or advocate for a single modality of treatment that is discriminatory or likely to harm clients based on current accepted standards or practice.
Continuing education credits are available for attendance in the Zoom presentation. You must stay on the Zoom meeting for the entirety of the training and complete the course evaluation afterward in order to receive a completion certificate. Because of the requirement to attend the training in full, if you attempt to log in to the Zoom late, after the training is already underway, you may not be admitted. Please log onto the event promptly at the listed start time.
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