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A passionate clinician, executive director, and entrepreneur with keen strategic and intellectual ability evidenced in professional accomplishments, clinical staff mentoring, and advising and teaching students, professionals, and parents across the country. Landria has the opportunity every day to work and live in her purpose by working and training people with special needs and their families. Landria is described as a dynamic, informative, energetic, and captivating speaker. She is a certified and licensed speech-language pathologist with specialties in autism, assistive technology, behavior, and communication. As the granddaughter of a woman who’s communication abilities were cut short by a massive stroke, she understands first hand the impact of impairment on the family. Landria is currently the owner and Executive Director of SLC Therapy, a private therapy firm located in Connecticut and Michigan focused on Empowering Families and Expanding Independence. Through her leadership at SLC Therapy, Landria has created dynamic and innovative programs for families that include Flourish!, a center based educational program for learners with autism, and the use of videoconferencing (Teletherapy) technology to provide families access to therapy service. In addition, Landria is focused on empowerment through partnerships with organizations to enhance community services. Landria is the creator of The Empowered Parent, a parent e-magazine focused on support for families of people with special needs. Landria was recently selected as a professional expert on a documentary focused on Autism in the African-American Community. Landria is the author of the social curriculum Keep the Conversation Going, which focuses on social cognition, conversation fluency, and social skills. Education B.S. Speech and Hearing Science University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign M.A. Speech Language Pathology Northwestern University Certified Speech Language Pathologist American Speech Language Hearing Association DIR Level 1 Practitioner Certification: Compton P-ESL Certificate: ADOS Training, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor PROMPT-Introduction Verbal Behavior, Dr. Vincent Carbone Achievements 40 Under 40 Business Professionals in Fairfield County 2009 Someone You Should Know Award, Bridgeport Black Pride 2007 People’s Bank Community Award 2006
Blog » The Look of Cool and the connection to Social Entry
I have had this conversation with myself and some colleagues about this topic and yesterday I thought I must share this with you! I understand that this topic may not resonate well with everyone or may be offensive or just superficial! But it is the elephant in the room.
So here I go.....
There are rules for every social group. I'm not talking about social groups for people with social challenges. I'm talking about social groups related to cultural norms: regional, affinity groups (i.e. "geeks, nerds, musicians, stockbrockers, bookworms, cheerleaders, etc."). When you look at the individuals within these groups, they have, on the surface, some similiarities in dress and clothing. They have a look!
While we applaud individuality, that typically rings true in personality, likes, dislikes, etc. Even people who have a unique way of dressing still belong to a group...they have a "unique fashion group" (i.e. the Village in NYC).
Why am I bringing this up?
Well...too often I meet clients and parents and schools who question with all the social groups, lunch bunches, and other method of therapies...they still can't manufacture friendships (that's another blog topic) for their students or children with social language challenges. And then I chime in..."what does the target group look like? How do they dress?, What do they talk about?"
The larger question on the table is Are we preparing clients to be be part of social-cultural norms (and rather we admit it or not that IS and SHOULD be the goal...afterall, we fit with our select social-cultural norms in our talk, dress, mannerisms). OR are we preparing them to be better in therapy?
I hope I hope I hope that we are NOT preparing our clients to be better with us and that's it! I hope I hope I hope wer are NOT SHAPING and building cores that work for our societal norms. I hope I hope I hope that we are NOT coaching social dyads to accept from our clients what they would not accept from a typical peer.
If we are truly invested in social communication and the benefits of good therapy in this area, we must grab hold to the fact that it is a head to toe, inside -outside type of work. This means that we are working to figure things out for our clients and with our clients. There is language, dress, and specific nonverbal body language associated with the selected affinity groups. There is a look to cool. It is true that your social entry depends on the look. After all, would we invite just anyone to sit with us at our table at Panera..OR do we give them the once over before we nonverbally greet them?!?
The SAME holds true for our clients, students, and family members with social language challenges. Let's face the elephant in the room and understand that there are rules to being invited to the lunch table...you have to LOOK the part!
I remember teaching someone how to read nonverbal signals to "enter a group" and we used social dyads, community integration...because generalizaand and schema building are key. Well, I kept waiting for her to get the nonverbal approval for entry...and she never did! I'm thinking..well she is doing all the right things and exercising flexibility using great nonverbal language, etc. But no luck! Then I took off part of my therapist hat and became the "general population" and I had an Aha moment...she didn't look the part. Conversation with her mother...revealed what was the value in fashion because she doesn't ask for it (Hmmm and she won't but 13 year olds should not dress like their 56 year old parents and I'm not buying the "she won't ask for it schipill..")
...I'm thinking it's the look of cool, the look of the socio-cultural norm that is key for this student now! I've brought her to the mountain and now the look of cool will get her to the mountain top.
I've said all this to say...we can skill build, core compentency build, social group build until the cows come home! But...at the end of the day, the LOOK, the TOTAL PACKAGE does matter.
On second thought...this is not really superficial, it's the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk abut for fear of looking superficial...well no fear here!
Let's get real!
~Enjoy and Be Empowered
Landria Seals Green
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