Guidelines to writing your own a Social Story

Social Story Guidelines

• Write a social story from the perspective of the Child (Child's point of view). Create a word picture – what they would see and experience.
•  The story should be within their comprehension level, with vocab and print size appropriate to the child's age and ability.
• Like all good stories they should contain an introduction, body and conclusion.
• They are written in first person (or third person -if child is advanced)  and present tense.
• Behavioural responses should be stated in positive terms. eg "I will use my quiet voice' instead of "I will not shout."
• Use a combination of different types of sentences, following the recommended ratio: Descriptive, Perspective & Directive*
• May be supplemented with additional, optional types of sentences: Affirmative, Control, Cooperative *
• Provide more information about the social situation than you think the Child needs
• The social story prepares them to act appropriately
•  Read to the story to the child often, get them engaged and then slowly fade out the story once the behaviour has been acquired. 

There are four types of sentences that can be used to write social stories: Descriptive, directive, perspective and the optional sentences (affirmative, control or cooperative).

Descriptive:  define who is involved, where, what and why. They give cues about what the person sees, who is involved, and what happens. Example: When it is lunchtime, most students eat lunch.

Directive: Explain what is expected and how the child should respond to the situation. Often using.. "I will try..."  or When I eat, I will eat my own food

Perspective: Describe what others may be thinking or feeling or mood.
Example: Many students like to eat their lunch with others.

 Optional sentences: Affirmative, Control or Cooperative

• Affirmative – Enhance the meaning of other statements by expressing commonly shared opinions or values
• Control – Help the child to remember or define the story better.
• Cooperative – Identifies what other people will do to support or assist the child.

The recommended formula for writing social stories based on Carol Gray's opinion is two to five Descriptive, perspective and/or optional sentences for every  Directive sentence. This means that for every directive sentence there should be 2-5 other sentences in the story. Regardless of the length of the story this ratio should be maintained.

Descriptive, perspective, control and directive sentences can be written either as partial sentences or completed sentences. By using partial sentences it helps make the child guess what the next step in a situation, or their own response, or response of another could be.

Next Post.. so now you know what should be in a Social story - but how do you write one?





Questions or Comments?
Please leave below - I would love to hear your thoughts or experiences.





References  

Adams, L., Gouvousis, A., VanLue, M., & Waldron, C. (2004). Social story intervention improving communication skills in a child with an autism spectrum disorder. Focus on Autism and other developmental Disabilities, 19(2), 87-94.

Gilman, S. (2009). Social stories: Pathways to inclusion. English Quarterly Canada, 39(2), 33-45.

Gray, C. (2010). The new social story book. (10th ed.). Arlington, TX: Future Horizons. 

Marr, D., &  Nackley, V. (2010). Using social stories and sensory stories in autism intervention. OT Practice. 17-20.

Ozdemir, S. (2008). The effectiveness of social stories on decreasing disruptive behaviours of children with autism: Three case studies. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 38(9), 1689-1696.

Reynhout, G., & Carter, M. (2006). Social Stories™ for children with disabilities. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 36(4), 445-469.

Occupational Therapy and Social Stories

Occupational Therapy  and Social Stories-so where's the fit..? 


Occupational therapy is a client centred profession that aims at enabling the client’s participation and engagement in their everyday occupations.  The occupational therapist  achieves this in several ways; by working with the client (and the client's family/key workers), or through modifying the occupation, or environment. This is to enable the client to engage in occupations that they want to, need to or are expected to do (World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 2012).

Occupational therapists work collaboratively with the client, family, health professionals and educators, to enable participation in meaningful occupations. Occupational therapist may teach a parents/professionals strategies such as Social Stories for  improving a child's understanding of social situations, managing behaviours or teaching functional skills to promote occupational performance, such as an accurate description about the event, a description of how others may react, and instruction for appropriate action or response in that social situation. This enables the child to have the appropriate level of understanding which assists them to participate in everyday activities.



References: 

World Federation of Occupational Therapists. (2012). Definition of occupational therapy. 2013, from http://www.wfot.org/AboutUs/AboutOccupationalTherapy/DefinitionofOccupationalTherapy.aspx

 

 

What are Social Stories..?

What are Social Stories..?

Social Stories (SS) were first developed and defined by Carol Gray in 1991, after working alongside children with Autism. For over twenty years, Gray has reviewed and modified the guidelines to creating social stories based from personal experience and  feedback given from parents, teacher and children. Social stories are a tool/resource to help teach children social skills. 

Social stories describe a specific situation and teaches the child what the appropriate behaviours or responses would be for the given situation. It is written and delivered in a way that is simple and easy to be understood  and is individualized for the child. SS can be used in a range of settings such as at home, school or in the community. SS help to  teach or maintain social skills, daily living skills, or behaviour management skills for children. Although the goal of Social stories is not to directly change behaviour, by the child's improved understanding of the event or expectations, it may help improve their behaviours and responses (Gray, 2010). 


 

 Social Stories are short, straightforward descriptions of social situations, and provide the child details of what they might expect from a situation, and describes what may be expected of them. Social stories are often a strength based strategy and will often affirm what the child does well, which then helps to strengthen appropriate skills and behaviours. 

Social stories are suitable with children aged between 3 -15 years and can be written to their age and comprehension level. Although social stories were first developed for Children with Autism and Aspergers Syndrome, they have also proven to be effective with a range of children both those with impaired or development differences and those with normal development.


To find out more - click on the Link below :What are Social Stories by Carol Gray

Next I'll discuss how Occupational Therapy and Social Story link.

References

Adams, L., Gouvousis, A., VanLue, M., & Waldron, C. (2004). Social Story Intervention Improving Communication Skills in a Child With an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Focus on Autism and other developmental Disabilities, 19(2), 87-94

Gray, C. (2010). The new social story book. (10th ed.). Arlington, TX: Future Horizons

Reynhout, G., & Carter, M. (2006). Social Stories™ for children with disabilities. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 36(4), 445-469.