Writing social stories? How?
I am excited to write this post because I want to share this amazing strategy that has helped many of my students. I first heard about this strategy when I was part of an Autism training that lasted for several days. Carol Gray first coined the term Social Stories and the information for this post is mostly from her research.
So let’s get started.
When I write social stories I first ask myself the following: What does this student need to learn? For example, does the student need to work on greeting others appropriately, or maybe does the student needs to learn to express his or her emotions in a more positive way.
Then, I start writing the social story by keeping the following in mind: Are the sentences simple? (Complex sentences are not recommended for social stories). Is it written from the students’ perspective? Does the story have a positive ending statement?
Next, I start adding photos (either actual pictures or clipart). It really depends on the student’s needs.
Here are the 3 main ingredients of a social story:
Be descriptive!
Visualize the situation and describe the steps in easy to understand and simple ways. For instance, I just wrote a social story about taking a trip on an airplane. While writing I asked myself: What happens first? What happens next? What could be unexpected or even scary for an individual with sensory processing difficulties?
Use directives!
Write what students or children need to do. For example, I can stay calm when waiting in line. Here, make sure the vocabulary matches the student’s abilities.
Integrate perspectives!
This means to describe thoughts, feelings, or possible reactions. For example, other people like it when I talk with a quiet voice.
Social Story Formula: 2-5 Perspective sentences plus 0-2 Directive sentences equals a perfect Social Story
Once the social story is written, read the story regularly with your student or child, and discuss critical social elements.
In conclusion, writing a social story is easy to if you follow these simple steps! Just give it a try!
