Y’all, I think I am losing the ability to appropriately interact with others. The Unthinkable Collider is really messing with me these days.
Ok, I probably need to unpack that sentence for 90% of my readers. For 3 years I co-led a social thinking program at the local elementary school with an amazing speech therapist. We introduced a super hero that taught students how to defeat Unthinkables. Collider is the Unthinkable that makes people interrupt. Think about it, interruptions happen when our words bump or collide into someone else’s words.
There are 2 types of interruptions – fair and rude. I am most guilty of the fair interruption – when a person is excited and jumps in to add a thought.
We taught students 2 strategies to defeat Collider. The Back Down and SWAT.
The Back Down – when people interrupt, one person has to back down or stops talking to let the other person talk. SWAT stands for: Stop interrupting, Wait for a turn to talk, Actively listen, Think about others.
I think it is because I get so excited to talk to other people these days, that I jump in and collide with their words. I am going to practice what I preached to elementary age students and try to get my social skills back in check. Thankfully my friend group and inner circle are super nice people who will love me even when Collider is messing with me.