Grey Area Flexible Thinking

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Flexible thinking is a common goal for students with autism, adhd and mental health challenges. Using this grey area thinking approach is a strategy for reducing rigid thinking. Let’s discuss what grey area thinking is not. In the counseling world, rigid thinking is sometimes referred to as dichotomous, or black and white thinking. Black and white thinking is when one believes that thoughts, actions and people can only be placed into two categories: good/bad. Grey area thinking is when we consider the grey areas in between good and bad. The “grey area” phrase refers to the color progressions from white to black. To be grey area thinkers, we acknowledge and consider all the factors that affect our decision-making, such as:

Questions grey area thinkers ask themselves when in conflicts, flexible thinking, activities, strategies, supports, speech therapy, autism

Considering these factors is what makes flexible thinkers! These questions can be asked to help students identify the grey areas of social situations. The process of identifying the grey areas can lead to change students becoming more flexible thinkers. If you are looking for conflict resolution activities, this blog post might be helfpul.

My Take-aways for Grey Area Thinking

I’ve used this approach with several high school students and here are my biggest take-aways:

The student has to have metacognition. They must be able to think about how they think! I’ve found that this approach can be too difficult for students with moderate-severe cognitive issues to fully understand.
In the beginning, it’s helpful to identify the black and white areas first. Once these “anchors” are provided, the grey areas are easier for students to consider, especially with the therapist asking the key questions provided in the above image.
If a student identifies a grey area that reflects their acknowledgement of the feelings or perspective of another person, or the impact of an extenuating circumstance, I consider that progress!
The color coding nature of the approach makes for a solid visual support for teaching flexible thinking.

Products for Teaching Grey Area Thinking

I have two options for products to teach grey area thinking. One is a set of BOOM cards.

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The other option is available on TPT. It’s a printable pdf with a no print version included in TPT’s free digital platform, EASEL.

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What to Teach First!

First, help students understand what grey area thinking is not. It’s NOT concrete, black and white thinking.

A big problem with black and white thinking is it doesn’t allow for discussion, compromise or exploration of alternative ideas or solutions.

When we don’t listen to others, we often draw the wrong conclusions about them!

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Teaching flexible thinking: make it achievable!

I cannot stress this enough-when teaching students to use grey area thinking, provide the black and white endpoints (the “good” and the “bad”) for the student. It will be very difficult for most students to be successful with this approach without them, at least initially. Here’s an example. If the students feels like their schedule should NEVER change, that’s what you’ll put in the black box. Then, I determine what’s the direct opposite of this belief. That their schedule should always change, in this case. Then, we set out to find some grey areas by asking the grey area questions. In this scenario, outside circumstances have a huge impact upon student’s schedules. So a grey area could be, “schedules are consistent unless a teacher is out.” Another? Schedules are consistent unless there is a drill or assembly. The goal is for students to understand other factors that influence their life and make concrete thinking unrealistic.