Testimonials
Mike’s Crush was reviewed by the American Journal of Sexuality Education
Volume 7, Issue 3, 2012
Social Signals – Mike’s Crush
10.1080/15546128.2012.707095
Stephanie Mitelman, MA, CSE and Olivia Von Kohorn
pages 282–284
“After 10 years of working with adults and children on the spectrum or with disabilities, Nancy Nowell, MPA, MEd, CSE has a first-hand grasp of students’ diverse needs and challenges. With her filmmaker son, Nowell founded the company Social Signals and began developing audiovisual educational material to teach social skills to students on the autism spectrum.”
“While several books already existed about Asperger’s syndrome and intimate relationships, the Social Signals curriculum and DVD, Mike’s Crush, is the first of its kind, using an audiovisual format to address the very subtle skills people need to form close friendships and intimate relationships.”
“The Mike’s Crush DVD is composed of professionally filmed short video narratives, which provide viewers an opportunity to watch others’ social behaviors in various real life situations and to learn from their actions. The complete Mike’s Crush curriculum comes with two video stories on DVD (one “good” day and one “bad” day) and an accompanying binder of lesson plans covering appearance, relationships, body language, conversation, and some of the rules of relationships.”
“Nowell’s lessons and videos help teens and young adults target specific issues about initiating and maintaining healthy social connections, which are often especially challenging for those on the autism spectrum. Nowell’s curriculum is designed in a user-friendly format for just about anyone in a classroom or one-on-one setting to address these difficult situations.”
Sexuality and Autism
“Understanding relationships is a complex matter for students with autism spectrum disorders and other conditions. The art of communication, the emotions, and the behaviors need to be balanced and appropriate. Teaching the subtleties of interpersonal relationships and dating skills requires clear instructions and visual material. In my clinical practice, I use Social Signals programs and recommend them to my colleagues in the field of psychology and education. The program provides different models and guidelines to ensure successful relationships and positive experience for students.
”Isabelle Hénault, PhD, Psychologist and Sexologist
Author, Asperger’s Syndrome and Sexuality
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Schools
“Nancy Nowell has added an aspect of educational programming that our students absolutely needed, but was previously overlooked at school.
The students are benefiting tremendously from Nancy’s direct group services, consultation with educators, and parent education, as well as her published educational materials. Nancy has a wealth of knowledge on the topic of sexuality education and has created excellent materials that the students understand. Nancy has a warm and caring manner with students, educators, and parents. She is a valued consultant and an asset to our educational program.”
Beverly J. Smith
Director, Special Education
Garnet Valley School District, Pennsylvania
“I am a teacher of high school students with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. My students have the most difficulty in the area of boy/girl relationships.
This high-quality DVD [Mike’s Crush] with real actors has been a very powerful teaching tool in my class.
It is a drama that is done with humor and presents its many messages in a clear and understandable way. It effectively covers many issues, from personal hygiene to stalking. My students have consistently enjoyed watching it and have benefited from it in many ways. I highly recommend it to anyone who is teaching the skills needed in this area!”
Kelly Ann Zurga, MEd
Autistic Support Teacher
Council Rock School District, Pennsylvania
Students
A Review of Mike’s Very Bad Day
By Robert Taverner
“Setting and Visuals
Mike’s Very Bad Day is stunning with its realism and can connect with anyone in America. The actual location is never given, but this is a blessing because teens can imagine Mike living in their hometown. The creators may have been going for this, or maybe not, but this makes it all the better. The camera work is excellent and the editing spot-on.
★★★★★★★★★★ (10 out of 10 stars)”
“Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to help teach us what we need to know about relationships and how to handle them appropriately.”
Alyssa
“It’s been great spending time with you, and you have [taught] me lots of valuable lessons and I thank you for that.”
Matt
“I like Mike’s Crush because the movie shows me what relationships are about [and] how to have healthy relationships. Seeing Mike’s Good Day at School and Mike’s Very Bad Day was helpful, because it shows how you are supposed to act. In Mike’s Good Day at School, he is nice and can really understand people’s body language and what they are saying and understanding the social signals.
In Mike’s Very Bad Day, he is rude and acts strange because he doesn’t understand people’s body language or understand what they think or feel about him. Mike’s Crush really helped me to understand people better and my relationships with them.
It is helping me to become confident.”
Tori
Parents
“Thank you all who were involved in the making of Mike’s Crush. This is definitely an incredible teaching tool for our family. It gave me the opportunity to actually discuss many issues with my daughter — because she could actually SEE and HEAR each situation and was able to relate to many of them. The ‘good day’ / ‘bad day’ format is just perfect.
She has watched the movie many times and has written her own notes to discuss with me. Mike’s Crush was able to relay potential serious/important issues to my daughter in a very interesting and effective way. It certainly was a lot more productive than me talking/talking/talking to her — and more enjoyable for her than hearing my voice. Mike’s Crush gets an A+. Again, thanks to all who were responsible for the idea and the making of Mike’s Crush — a wonderful movie! You all deserve an award!! Keep the movies coming!!”
Carol Amaradio
Parent of a 19-year-old daughter
Sexuality Educators
“Nancy has developed a plethora of teaching materials to address the needs of those with various disabilities. She has a wonderful new curriculum that she has developed and tested over many months in the classroom. As part of the testing, she invites feedback from students and teachers in order to improve upon the materials.
The educational videos that she has developed provide engaging visual models of what is OK and NOT OK behavior in relationships. Parents have seen the videos that she created and have wanted to buy them on the spot.
I can’t say enough about the concept of teaching using these beautifully constructed videos with well written lessons, created by young adults under the guidance of Nancy, who has been doing this work for 20 + years.”
Konstance McCaffree, PhD, ACSE, CFLE
Sexuality Education Consultant
Adjunct Professor, Widener University
President-elect, AASECT
Past President, SSSS
“The Social Signals DVD and curriculum may be the missing piece for teens and young adults with difficulty in social skills. The lessons are written to be adaptable to all students with a range of abilities, ages, and knowledge.… This program is a necessary piece of curriculum for all teachers and caregivers to teach these subjects effectively.
The curriculum in full comes with two video stories on DVD (one ‘good’ day/one ‘bad’ day), as well as lesson plans in an accompanying binder covering appearance, relationships, body language, conversation, and some of the rules of relationships.
Mike’s Crush illustrates through grossly exaggerated examples how one can wrongly ‘read’ a situation, as well as how to accurately read one and respond. The video demonstrates all the pieces to a social interaction puzzle, including communication, body language, friendship, hygiene, and personal space. Its central themes include different kinds of relationships, and healthy and unhealthy boundaries. It aims to not only help people form healthy relationships, but to also teach about the social and legal lines that must not be crossed.”
Stephanie Mitelman, MA, Certified Sexuality Educator
Review for the American Journal of Sexuality Education
Disability Professionals
“Nancy has taught special education and worked directly with students and their families, and she has worked with both victims and offenders. Her materials and methods are practical and pragmatic, and I highly recommend them.
In Mike’s Crush, I have been able to use specific video segments, as well as the curriculum representing various social interactions, good and bad, in my relationship development series. Mike’s Crush is a tremendous resource to me.”
Lawrence R. Sutton, PhD
Licensed Psychologist
Certified School Psychologist
“I have had the honor of working with Nancy Nowell for more than 10 years. She has boundless energy and has been committed to enhancing the lives of people who have intellectual disabilities for more than thirty-five years.
Her expertise has both breadth and depth. She has developed teaching materials, including her recent publication of Mike’s Crush. This teaching tool is focused on students who have difficulty with social interactions and, in addition to an excellent teachers guide and curriculum, it also includes a video with segments representing inappropriate social interactions, followed by appropriate social interactions. Mike’s Crush is being used by professionals in the United States and Canada.”
Sharon Mahar Potter, MEd
Sexuality Consultant Specializing in Disabilities
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
“The Social Signals program, with its focus on prevention, rather than intervention, is an outstanding curriculum resource for parents, educators, and supporters across many disciplines. By effectively navigating the subtleties of sexual innuendo, the importance of personal hygiene, and the truths about sexual abuse and harassment, countless young people will be poised to experience fulfilling relationships now more than ever before.”
—William Stillman, author of “The Everything Parent’s Guide to Children with Asperger’s Syndrome,” “The Autism Answer Book,” and “Demystifying the Autistic Experience”
“Seeing the very pitfalls and solutions we talk about helps them understand and retain the information so much more effectively than hours of talk therapy. This is classic modeling for the iPad generation.”
Thomas Graves, M.S., M.Ed., LPC
therapist w educator w consultant
sexuality and its problems, intellectual dysabilities