WHAT ARE THEY?
Social Stories are, according to the developer of social stories, Carol Gray, a social learning tool that supports the safe and meaningful exchange of information between parents, professionals, and people with autism of all ages. Social stories are communication strategies that enable students to understand a situation, skill or concept and guide their behavior through descriptive or coaching narratives. They are short personalized texts written in first person that discuss one problem situation. The scenarios cover anything from general school behavior, like lining up, working with a partner, cafeteria manners or more detailed skills, like executive functioning scenarios for problem solving, self-motivating or emotion self-regulation skills.
HOW TO TEACH THEM
According to Carol Gray (1993), social stories should be introduces when a student is feeling calm and relaxed. Introducing a story during a crisis situation will not produce any lasting effects on the student. Social stories should be placed in an easily accessible area within a student’s reach, and reviewed regularly. They should never be used as punishment for misbehavior. The author has developed the following guidelines for teaching, reviewing and fading social stories:
1. Use an honest and straightforward approach when introducing the story, e.g. “I have written this story for you. It is about thunderstorms. Let’s read it together now. Soon we will review it.”
2. Review the story as often as required. Some social stories will be reviewed initially once a day, others prior to the situation for which they were written.
3. Maintain a positive, reassuring and patient attitude when reviewing the story. This is to ensure that the story will make the desired impact on the student.
4. Use a calm and friendly tone of voice when reading a social story and make sure the environment is quiet, comfortable and free of distractions. Students should not feel in any way threatened by the adult’s tone of voice or content of the story.
5. Involve others in the reading the story where appropriate. For example, a story that is focused on a situation or activity at school could also be reviewed with the child’s teacher or paraprofessional.
6. Introduce one story at a time to maximize learning and to make sure the person does not become overwhelmed with information.
The reading of a social story should always be followed by a discussion with the student to make sure comprehension occurred. The mere act of reading the story to the child does not imply nor grant student’s understanding of the content. Comprehension questions, as well as examples of personal life experiences should be discussed with the student immediately following the reading of a social story to maximize understanding, personal connections and efficiency of the social story. For example, adults should ask questions like “How can you tell that the person in the story was upset?”, or “What was a similar situation in which you…?” Other techniques include written comprehension tasks, checklists or role play. Check out my bundles here.
HOW TO WRITE A SOCIAL STORY
Social stories are written with the end in mind. The authors should target a specific behavior (e.g. how to get someone’s attention properly), then follow a certain format for writing the story by (1) describing the situation, (2) providing clear details, (3) offering the perspective of others by incorporating their feelings, thoughts or reactions, (4) introducing alternate behaviors, and (5) drawing a positive conclusion using supportive language and simple descriptive sentences.
The task of implementing social stories with your students could feel daunting, but it shouldn’t be. Although social stories should be personalized, you don’t have to start with social stories for each student. You can begin by targeting one behavior that has the highest frequency in your class and work with the whole group. For example, if your students have a difficult time asking for help properly, you can begin by addressing that behavior with all of your students at the same time. Once you feel comfortable using the social stories, you can look at your students’ individual needs and start customizing your interventions.
In her guidelines for Social Stories™, Gray (1995) describes four types of sentences that should be used when writing a social story: descriptive, perspective, directive and affirmative sentences.
Descriptive sentences answer ‘wh’ questions regarding where the targeted situation, like where the behavior occurs, who is involved, and what will happen. For example:
Perspective sentences describe reactions and feelings of the student as well as of other people involved, like teachers, peers, friends, or family members. Perspective sentences may also include consequences for the undesired behavior. For example:
Directive sentences describe the desired behavior. For example:
Affirmative sentences restate the desired behavior and confirm that the student’s actions are positive when following the desired behavior.
Social stories could end with visual reminders that summarize the narrative and provide positive reinforcement for the student. For example:
Social stories are not meant to be lists of desired behaviors, but rather stories that provides concrete details to aid in better behavior choices. To prevent these kinds of lists, Gray (2000) suggests keeping your sentence types to a ratio of one directive sentence to every two to five descriptive or perspective statements (Lofland, 2015).
Social stories should be written in simple and concise sentences, with verbiage that reflects the student’s perspective and is at their level of comprehension.
WHY THEY WORK
Social stories are short descriptions of a particular situation, event or activity, which include specific information about what to expect in that situation and why. Autistic students of all ages benefit greatly from social stories because they provide structure and clear steps to situations that may seem stressful, confusing or overwhelming for the students. They also work well with students struggling with ADHD, ODD, Down Syndrome, or cognitive disabilities. I have also used social stories successfully with typically developed students who, at some point, found themselves in situations in which they didn’t know the appropriate way of acting. Social stories are considered successful interventions with any type of learners because they help broaden social understanding by providing concrete meaningful information about a particular situation, and guidelines for behavior that can help reduce students anxiety, confusion or sense of overwhelming.
Find my collection of social stories here. They are tailored for a large variety of scenarios, and the pages are not numbered, so you could easily customize them for your specific needs.
REFERENCES
Gray, C. & Garand, J. (1993). Social Stories: Improving responses of individuals with autism with accurate social information. Focus on Autistic Behavior, 8, 1-10.
Lofland, K. (2015). Writing and using social narratives in all environments. The Reporter, 20 (9). Retrieved from https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/pages/writing-and-using-social-narratives