The Hope Source

The Purple Philosophy: Social Communication 

When it comes to ASD and social communication, supporting social interaction is an important piece of the puzzle. At The Hope Source, we recognize that offering safe, supportive opportunities for students to engage in age-appropriate peer interaction facilitates growth and leads to competence. Fostering social competence is reliant on honing the skills of social referencing and reciprocity.
In order to engage in a social interaction, a person needs to be able to take another’s perspective and adjust the interaction accordingly. One of the challenges faced by individuals with autism is an overall lack of awareness of the feelings and emotional states of others and failure to pick up on nonverbal cues like facial expressions, inflection and intonation of voice.
We often see that a child or adolescent on the spectrum is failing in traditional school environments, not because of academic content, but because the social environment and demands in social cognition and social communication are so high.
Individuals with ASD often do not understand why friendships are not developing or how to recognize and repair the breakdown. This leads to anxiety surrounding school and thus, impacts academic success. By creating an environment in which students on the spectrum can explore peer interaction and develop academic skills, The Hope Source and Dynamic Minds Academy offers the best of both worlds!
Aristotle knew and we agree; Both are critical to education and long term quality of life.


Want more information? Here’s a start:

  1. To read the most recent Purple Philosophy blog post, click here:
  2. For more information about social communication and how it relates to autism and the D12, click here:
  3. To learn how to use simple games to practice nonverbal communication with your child, click here:



The Purple Philosophy: What does regulation sound like?

Shhh. Don’t disrupt the mindful engagement!

When someone is regulated their mind and body is attending, organizing and processing environmental, emotional and cognitive information appropriately.

When someone is regulated, they will be more confident and competent as solving functional problems and adjusting to social demands.

We can observe this confidence/competence objectively; The body is still, the mind is focused and the heart is trusting in the partner or the process.

Objectively observing and determining the function of behavior is the foundation of ABA. In this field, the word behavior is often discussed in the negative – abehavior to be changed. But if we go further than that, we can see that a lot of behavior is a symptom of deeper deficits.

Behavioral symptoms, such as aggression, are LOUD and that is a good thing! If we can see or hear it, then we can find what is really happening with the individual.

Most of the time, what we identify as a behavior is really feelings of incompetence to overcome a challenging situation causing anxiety and fear. Anxiety and fear lead to fight or flight behavior.

It is critical to not simply change or suppress this loud behavior before understanding it.

If we build confidence and competence in overcoming challenges, the “behavior” will become regulated – engaged, attentive and quiet.


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