Whole Body Listening

Whole body listening (WBL), first introduced by Susanne Poulette Truesdale (in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, July 1990, Vol. 21, 183-184) is a concept taught to help students focus and actively listen with more than just their ears. We also refer to this as Listening with Body and Brain, and it’s essential for collaborative engagement, relationship development, and peer-based group work. In this webinar, Social Thinking founder Michelle Garcia Winner shares strategies and materials for teaching this critical concept which is not about teaching students to sit up straight and keep quiet. At the conclusion of this webinar, she recaps the five Social Thinking Vocabulary concepts covered so far in our 10 Concepts webinar series, and how they can be used in tandem across different situations.

After watching this webinar, infuse your teaching over the next month to help your students understand it deeply and meaningfully (avoid memorization). Then, tune in to the next webinar to learn how to build on this concept with best practices for teaching expected and unexpected behavior!

The 10 Concepts Webinar Series

This webinar is part of a series that shares best practices for teaching 10 core concepts from the Social Thinking Methodology. Strengthen your students’ social-emotional learning by infusing your teaching with these concepts over the course of the school year. Each concept should be taught slowly for one month or longer—it takes time for students to deeply understand the ideas and begin using them in their lives. We recommend learning about (and teaching) the concepts in order as they build on one another. View all the webinars in the 10 Concepts series within our larger webinar library.