SŌSH
Great social-skills help for kids on the autism spectrum.
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SŌSH
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that SŌSH is an app to help teens and adults with Asperger’s syndrome succeed socially. It's divided into five skill sets, each of which has tools, advice, and ways to track behaviors and progress, such as "Relax" or "Relate." It's not cheap, but it can be an invaluable tool for kids with social challenges, and if you want to test it, Sosh Lite allows you to download the full app for a seven-day trial.
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What’s It About?
Kids who are on the autism spectrum often have trouble interacting with peers, with self-regulation, understanding body language and idiomatic language, transitions, and more. SŌSH offers tools that can help with social-skills development; the app focuses on five skill areas: Relate (Connect with Others), Relax (Reduce Stress), Regulate (Manage Behaviors), Reason (Think It Through), and Recognize (Understand Feelings). Among other features, kids get behavior-tracking areas, a voice meter, an interest log, and a Shredder that they can use to visually "shred" any negative thought, feeling, or situation.
Kids can start with the Questionnaire, found by tapping the "Sosh" button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Kids answer yes or no to 12 questions, such as "I have been told I do not make good eye contact" or "I avoid social outings." For any "yes" answer, a link to one of the skills areas pops up to facilitate that skill. For example, selecting "yes" for "I avoid social outings" and tapping the link takes kids to the "Out and About" page, a subcategory of the Relate skill. Kids see two activity choices, either "Get Out!" or "Explore." Choosing "Get Out!" offers a flow-chart type of fill-in-the-blank graphic where kids identify the way they feel and what they don't want to do (socially) -- but, given that specific activity, the resulting feeling might be ___. The "Explore" choice takes kids to a Locations screen where they have the option of connecting to the Internet to find places of interest nearby. More than 60 screens let kids explore and learn how to handle social situations of all kinds (with help) and archive their experiences for reflection.
Is It Any Good?
SŌSH covers a broad spectrum of social skills. Many sensory or self-regulation strategies used with students with autism are included, such as a voice meter, deep breathing, and music to calm. Used on a mobile device such as an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, these tools can be readily available to kids anywhere. The activities provide a clear visual and auditory presentation. This is a great app for high-functioning kids with autism or Asperger’s to work on self-regulation and social skills towards the goal of independent application of these strategies.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Use the questionnaire with kids to explore different social areas.
Set daily goals with kids and assist them in reflecting on or rating their days or individual events in the Journal feature using text or recording notes.
Use the Shredder feature in response to a negative feeling and shred it virtually. For example, "I hate it when I have to read aloud" -- shred!
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Language & Reading: discussion, following directions, presenting to others, speaking, Social Studies: citizenship, cultural understanding, Arts: movement, playing
- Skills: Self-Direction: achieving goals, goal-setting, identifying strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, self-assessment, self-reflection, set objectives, Emotional Development: developing resilience, handling stress, identifying emotions, labeling feelings, moving beyond obstacles, persevering, self-awareness
- Release date: November 22, 2011
- Category: Education
- Publisher: Dr. Mark Bowers
- Version: 1.3
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 3.0 or later
- Last updated: November 17, 2016
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