LEARNING TO WRITE SOCIAL STORIES Results in a product Has a goal—teaches understanding using rote compliance Describes more than directs Answers “wh” questions

Who Can Use Social Stories Students within the Autism Spectrum Disorder Students of all ages and functioning levels Educators, parents, any caregiver, service provider Originally written for use with ASD kids—Carol Gray Does not matter if student is reader or non-reader Is not dependent on student age Can be used in a variety of settings by a variety of people

What a Social Story Accomplishes SOCIAL STORIES What a Social Story Accomplishes Provides a product for teaching Allows others to see things from students’ perspectives Provides rote practice 1)Provides product for teaching—specific lesson/skill to be learned 2)Others’ perspective—students typically have difficulty seeing things from other’s perspective—”Troy” story—not necessarily wrong, just different slant 3)Rote practice– always ready to use over and over as needed

SOCIAL STORIES What a Social Story Accomplishes Describes a situation, skill or concept Focuses story on individual student Translates behavior into meaningful activity 1)Describes—is student specific and situation specific 2)Focuses on individual—written in first or third person --focuses on needs of individual --focuses on perspective of individual 3) Translates behavior—tells situation in words students knows and understands i.e., avoids abstract terms, vocabulary above students cognitive level

SOCIAL STORIES When to Use Social Stories To acknowledge positive behaviors or skills and efforts To encourage generalization of behaviors in other settings To explain situations that are difficult for a student As acknowledgement—states desired responses—key is POSITIVE Generalizations—since it focuses on desired response—can be used in variety of settings to generalize learning across environments Difficult situations—facilitates learning of situations avoiding “don’t”s –tells what to do

When to Use Social Stories To explain situations the student misinterpreted To prepare or pre-teach Misinterpreted situations—as mentioned before, helps students see other sides to story—alters perceptions of situations Prepare and Pre-teach—Can be used for teaching social skills, appropriate behavior, academic sequences, community activities, extra-curricular, etc.

Where to Use Social Stories Throughout the school environment With any school related activity Within the community Settings that encompass the students’ needs 1)School environment—Any time—Any where (lunch, bus, transitions, down time) 2)School related activity—community education 3)Community—again reflects that not only school personnel should use—teach others to use 4) Student needs—May be tied to IEP goals, student specific to individual needs no matter where this may be

SOCIAL STORIES How to Write Social Stories Use descriptive sentences in all stories “backbone” of story Use perspective sentences “heart” of story Use directive sentences “I get it” of story HOW—No assumptions—provide accurate information for student with introduction, body, conclusion. Sentences answers “wh” questions Descriptive sentence—Provides information Perspective sentence—Describes thoughts Directive sentence—Describes what to do Descriptive sentence-GO TO EASEL--

How to Write Social Stories Use affirmative sentences “it’s OK” of story Use control sentences “it’s OK to change” of story Use cooperative sentences “there’s more than one” of story Use appropriate ratio of sentences Affirmative sentence—May be part of social story—express commonly shared opinions (riding bike—”many people wear helmets”) Control Sentence—May be used to explain when person changes their mind Cooperative Sentence—Identifies “helpers”—Refers to others in story Ratio—Refer to Social Stories Kit– 1 directive or control sentence to 2-5 of other types listed Type of sentences and amount of sentences vary with individual students

Why to Use Social Stories To improve social understanding To increase independence To provide a positive backdrop to varying situations Improve social understanding—Makes a situation become REALITY for student Increases independence—Social story read, practiced with student; reviewed, faded as soon as possible (give example) Positive backdrop—Allows staff/parent to be proactive to various situations—Avoids “NO” ,“DON’T DO THAT” situations

Why to Use Social Stories To serve as a vehicle for learning across environments To provide concrete, easy to understand information Learning across environments—Previously discussed Concrete information—Avoids abstract language, tells what to do in terms student understands

REFERENCES Writing Social Stories with Carol Gray, Carol Gray, 2000, Future Horizons The New Social Story Book, Carol Gray, 2000, Future Horizons Autism and PDD Social Skills Lessons: Home, School, Community, Getting Along, Behavior; Reese & Challenner, 1999, LinguiSystems See added pages: Social Story examples and Social Story Kit