Autism Spectrum Disorder and social skills stories
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012A social story is written to help a person with Autism Spectrum Disorder address social skills deficits and pave the way for a positive social interaction or behaviour.
Children on the spectrum do not naturally acquire social and communication skills and lack he ability to interact with others effectively, this is due to social skills deficits. Social skills need to be taught directly through deliberate treatments and intervention strategies.
Teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorder social skills using intervention strategies
Probably the most significant of the various intervention strategies are social skills stories. Social skills stories can be easily implemented and used to teach the social and communication skills and behaviours that the child with Autism Spectrum Disorder is struggling with.
Having social impairments is much like being dropped in a foreign country with no idea where or how to get home or communicate. Children on the spectrum will need intervention strategies to acquire functional and age-appropriate social skills, make friendships, and learn communication skills.
We know that the vast majority of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder are visual thinkers and learners, meaning they think in pictures, therefore visual intervention strategies are excellent.
Visual intervention strategies
Social stories ARE visual intervention strategies. Written in first person text and using visual images and pictures to describe the situation or skill in detail, a social skills story break the skill into appropriate social cues, following a set formula the social skills story is much like a comic strip conversation for the person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder to follow.
Social skills stories provide concrete information on what people in a given situation are doing, thinking or feeling. The social skills story is like a visual plan showing the steps or sequence of events, identifying the significant social cues and their meaning, answering the important “wh” questions – who, what, where, when and why
For a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder social stories should describe social situations, contexts, and the likely behaviours of others and provide an appropriate behavioural response cue that the child with Autism Spectrum Disorder can understand.
Therefore teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorder social skills using intervention strategies LIKE social stories is beneficial.
For children with Autism Spectrum Disorder social skills stories act as a VISUAL PLAN OR FRAMEWORK that helps children with autism understand skills and behaviours that they struggle with.
To learn more about children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and social stories visit:
http://www.autismsocialstories.com
