Pyramid Processing

Copyright 2011, Laurel A. Falvo

I recently read in a magazine article, “Research identifies puberty as a massive holistic process of change, and that very much includes the brain. The prefrontal cortex, which involves judging, planning, and organizing, is one of the last portions of the brain to fully develop. In contrast, the risk-taking, instinctual part of the brain is turned on during puberty, drawing kids to look for the ‘fun stuff.’ In actuality the brain may take until the early-to-mid-twenties before it’s fully ‘formed.’”

What does this mean? It means that preteens and teens are very likely to generate what I call “authentic responses” to other people, situations, and events. And although we can understand where those responses are coming from as we identify factors such as their age (and lack of maturity), current emotional state and functioning level, personality, past experience, diagnoses such as ASD (autism spectrum disorders), and expectations (all components of an individual’s unique CONTEXT), those authentic responses aren’t always going to be effective. And since so much of success in life depends on our ability to meet other people’s expectations, effective responses (those that “work” with the people around us) are crucial for our overall success!

In order to help guide others toward effective responses, we need to use strategies that help them understand themselves and others, identify choices, set goals, control their impulses, and evaluate the effectiveness of their responses to continue to grow and to improve their opportunities for success.

I developed the Social Response Pyramid™ for that purpose. It can be used to help parents and professionals better understand their students (where they’re “coming from,” what strategies they have available to them to be successful—and what strategies they still need, and their awareness of their choices and how they impact their success). It can also be used with students to plan future responses or to evaluate past responses. It’s also a very simple visual which can help make sense of a host of other teaching strategies and why they’re necessary and why they’re likely to be successful.

If you’re like to try using the Social Response Pyramid™ at home or in the classroom, we have a few options available. The Pyramid KIT provides all the pieces you need for your own Pyramid discussions with students—including an instructional DVD with basic information and taped sessions with me working with my own children. All of this is available in an attractive reusable binder from our Gray Center bookstore. If you’d like to try using basic Pyramid templates to guide students through discussions of choices they’ve made and how those affected the outcome of a given interaction (and to help them see how other choices might bring about a different outcome), three pages of the KIT are now available as a download online.

For more information on the types of “gaps” that might be present in interactions with students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)—and how you might “fill” those with a variety of strategies (including the Social Response Pyramid and others), my DVD workshop, “The Autistic Brain and the Neurotypical Brain: Bridging the Gap Toward Effective Social Interactions” is available only through The Gray Center.

Best wishes as you continue to use a variety of strategies so that you and those you live and work with can experience and enjoy social success!

NOTE: This article was originally written for The SUN News. Back issues of this free weekly issue can be found at graycenter.wordpress.com. You can subscribe to receive future articles by clicking here.