Review: Social Stories Explained

Example of autism social stories: social stories follow a set formula and are made up of four sentence types:

Example of autism social stories sentence type:

Descriptive sentences: The bell rings at the end of playtime, the children all line up ready to go back to class.

Directive sentences: I am in yellow class, I sit at the front of the class, and I listen to my teacher when she is talking

Perspective sentences: When the bell rings at the end of break time the children know it is time to go back to class

Control sentences: I will remember to line up quietly at the end of break time.

Review: Social Stories Explained: To write a good clear social story you should aim to include all or some of the ABOVE sentence types,  avoid direct don’ts like do not talk in class, as this is an order, and sometimes an autistic child may find this difficult.

Autistic children live in a literal world and will take everything you say as true.

So for example; if you say do not talk in class, this should be followed by unless my teacher asks me too.

A social story should answer the ever important “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as “HOW” and give an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others which is a marked weakness in children with autism.

The social story is generally visual as most children with autism are visual thinkers, meaning they think in pictures and images and language is secondary. Written from the autistic child’s point of view and should be editable, as no two children with autism are ever the same and we all use different terminology.

Social Stories are used to help practise for a skill or situation the child with autism is struggling with as well as with transitions, changes to routines, teaching new skills, coping with unexpected situations, social situations, communication difficulties and paving the way for positive behaviours

For more information on social stories and to see an example visit www.autismsocialstories.com the home of specially written social stories that work

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