Advanced 5-Point Scale – Incredible! National Speaker Conference 2016 

Differences of social cognition involve challenges in the areas of social awareness, emotional awareness, relationship building, self-management and emotional regulation. Social cognition is a developmental issue and can impact a person’s confidence and competence in almost all social situations. This presentation will highlight the use of a highly systemized scale to teach skills in these four areas, as they impact a person’s ability to function in the highly social environments of the school and community.

Kari will present a brief overview of the cognitive research and learning theories emerging from the new field of educational neuroscience that support the use of the scale. She will describe and illustrate multiple examples of how to use a 5-point scale to teach skills and to clarify social information. Kari will give a brief overview of 5 additional systems that can be used to teach social and emotional information including bibliotherapy, video self-modeling, 5 Stars, relaxation, and social groups.

Kari Dunn Buron, MS
Kari Dunn Buron taught in K-12 with students on the autism spectrum for 30+ years and was a founding member of the MN Autism Project. She developed an Autism Spectrum

Disorders Certificate program for educators at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. In 2003, Kari received a fellowship that allowed her to spend a year interviewing and working internationally with a number of scientists and researchers in the area of Social Cognition and Education, with a focus on challenging behaviors. In 2012, Kari was inducted into the Illinois State University Education Department Hall of Fame.

 Kari is the co-author of The Incredible 5-Point Scale (recently revised), and the author of When My Worries Get Too Big-Revised (Mom’s Choice Award 2013 Gold), A 5 Could Make Me Lose Control and A 5 is Against the Law! (2008 ASA literary award winner). Kari is the co-editor of a textbook for educators titled Learners on the Autism Spectrum: Preparing Highly Qualified Educators (2009 ASA literary award winner) and a co-author of Social Behavior and Self-Management (a scale book for adults). Kari’s two most recent projects include a children’s chapter book entitled Adalyn’s Clare, a story about a highly anxious 4th grader and her social therapy dog, Clare and a social skills curriculum called The Social Times Curriculum (based on the Social Times magazine).