SOCIAL STORIES

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SOCIAL STORIES
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What's a Social Story?

• A Social Story is a tool for teaching social
  skills to children with Autism (and other
  children with and without disabilities).
• Relatively short
• Straightforward descriptions of social situations
• Specifically detail what an individual might
  expect from the situation
• What may be expected of him/her.

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What's a Social Story?

• Provide the student with descriptions of social
  situations that set the stage for the child to
  design successful, positive interactions.
• Social Stories are written from the students
  perspective.

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DESCRIBE IN DETAIL

• The important social cues
• The events and reactions the individual might
  expect to occur in the situation
• The action and reactions that might be expected
  of him and why

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WHAT'S THE GOAL?

Describe the situation to increase the student's
comfort level provide clear expectations of the
situation Provide examples of positive ways the
student can respond
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THE HOW TO DO ITS

• Target and observe a situation, which is
  difficult for a student.
• Written from the students perspectivenot yours!
  
• Write well within a students comprehension
  level, using vocabulary and print size
  appropriate for a students ability

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3 Types of Sentences

• Descriptive sentences objectively define where a
  situation occurs, who is involved, what they are
  doing, and why.
• Perspective sentences describe the reactions and
  feelings of others in a given situation.
• Directive sentences are individualized statement
  of desired responses. They often follow
  descriptive sentences telling a student what is
  expected as a response to a given cue or
  situation.

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More How To's

• Usually are written in the first person and the
  present tense, as though the student is
  describing events as they take place.
• May be written in the future tense to describe an
  upcoming situation to make it seem less
  threatening. Relating aspects of the anticipated
  event to a more familiar event, setting, or
  activity may be helpful.
• Use illustrations carefully. As a general rule,
  avoid illustrations with too many details, as
  they may be misleading to a student who tends to
  interpret illustrated information literally.
  Photographs may be useful, but be aware that the
  background may contain unintended extraneous
  information.

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Do's and Dont's

• Social stories often describe one aspect or one
  step of a social situation per page to further
  define the separate steps of a situation. Use
  only a few sentences per page.
• Avoid terms like always. Instead, use terms like
  usually or sometimes when writing a social
  story.
• State directive sentences positively, describing
  desired responses instead of describing problem
  behaviors.

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Example Time

• Sometimes a person says, I changed my
• mind (descriptive). This means they had
• one idea, but now they have a new idea
• (perspective). There are many situations
• where a person may say, I changed my
• mind (descriptive).

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• I will work on staying calm when someone
• changes their mind (directive). It is important
• to try to stay calm (descriptive). This keeps
• everyone safe (descriptive).

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• Sometimes in class I have a question
• (descriptive). When I want to ask a
• question, I raise my hand and wait until the
• teacher calls my name. When the teacher
• calls my name, that means it is my turn to
• ask my question (directive). I will put my
• hand down and ask the teacher my question
• (directive).

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• The teacher will do her best to answer my
• question (perspective). I will try to listen
• carefully to her answer (directive).
• Sometimes the teacher will not have an
• answer. That is okay too (perspective). I
• will try to wait patiently and quietly until my
• teacher calls on me to ask my question
• (directive).

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YOUR TURN

• Consider a student you have observed having
  difficulties with a particular situation.
• Consider how the student may be perceiving the
  situation.
• Write a story to reflect the students feelings
  as well as provide a way for the student to learn
  positive responses to the situation.

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TIME TO SHARE