Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Creating a Social Story
• Part 2 of 3: Creating Social Stories with Suggestions
• Part 3 of 3: Using Social Storytelling Designed for Different Situations
• Tips

Social stories are mainly aimed at children with autism spectrum disorders (autism). Such stories are brief descriptions of a particular situation, event or activity and include information about what to expect in such a situation and why. They also help to understand what the child can see or experience in a particular case.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Creating a Social Story

1. 1 Decide on the topic of your story. Some social stories are intended to be used in general, while other stories are aimed at a specific situation, event, or activity.
   • Examples of social stories that can be used in general are “how to wash your hands”, “how to prepare the table for dinner”. Examples of stories that target a specific situation or event might be “going for a check-up” or “boarding an airplane flight.”
   • General social stories can be read or viewed one or more times a day, depending on the child's preparation. Social stories designed for a specific purpose, situations should be fed to the child immediately before the event.
   • For example, a social story for visiting a doctor's office should be read just before the child leaves for a check-up.
2. 2 Limit yourself to one topic per social story. A child with autism cannot absorb too much information at once. So make sure you only talk about one particular event, situation, emotion, or behavior. Since it is extremely difficult for children with autism spectrum disorders to absorb a large amount of information at once.
3. 3 Make the main character of a social story look like a child. So that the kid sees himself as the protagonist of the story. This can be done by giving the main character some common qualities with the baby: gender, appearance, number of family members, interests or skills.
   • When the child begins to understand that the hero of the story and he are similar, then it will be much easier for you, as a storyteller, to convey your message. The hope is that the child will begin to compare himself with the character of the story and will do everything that the hero of the story does.
   • For example, when you tell a social story to a boy named Erickson, you might start like this: “There was a boy named Eric who was smart, obedient, tall, cute, and loved to play basketball like you.”
4. 4 Make sure your story is short. The stories can be read to the child by ear, or they can be presented as a simple book that the child can carry in his bag and read whenever he feels the need to.
   • Children with autism spectrum disorder tend to have good visual perception, so you can include pictures, photographs, and drawings in your social stories. This can better grab the child's attention and make the stories more interesting.
   • Learning will be more productive if the child volunteers in it.
5. 5 Make your social stories always positive and kind. Social stories should always be presented in such a way that the child is able to associate them with positive behavior. Positive methods can help you deal with negative emotions and better accept new situations and actions.
   • There should be no negative connotation in social history. The atmosphere, attitude and tone of the people involved in the story should only be positive.
6. 6 Involve more people to play the role of characters in the social story. This will help directly attract people who have a place in the child's life, his upbringing and formation: for example, if the story is about a joint toy, you can involve the child's brother or friend.
   • The child will connect better with other people, and you will also see how the child will feel about sharing something with others, such as their toys. It will also provide an opportunity to observe changes in the relationship of the baby to his brother or friend, when he is ready to share something.
   • This will develop more and more positive and beneficial behaviors in the child.
7. 7 Consider your child's mood when telling a social story. Consider the time, place, and mood of the child as you tell the social story: the child should feel comfortable, safe, calm and fully rested.
   • There is no need to tell a story when a child is hungry or tired. The essence of a social story cannot be perceived by a child when his mood is not very good.
   • Avoid places where there are bright lights, loud noises, or other distractions to which the child may be sensitive. Because in such conditions, telling a social story is simply pointless.
8. 8 Tell a social story about a particular behavior before placing your child in a similar situation.
   • Since the story is fresh in the mind of the child, he will remember what happened in the story and try to act in the same way as in the story.
   • For example, if a story about sharing their toys is read before a break, then during a break, the story is still fresh in their memory and children can immediately put it into practice, share toys with others.
9. 9 Create different stories for different needs. Social stories can also be used to help your child deal with emotions and feelings that are mostly uncontrollable.
   • Social stories can teach some essential social skills, such as communicating with other people in a way that does not lead to conflict, but encourages the formation of friendships and relationships. This is often necessary because children with autism spectrum disorders have problems with a lack of some adequate social skills.
   • Social stories can also teach the skills a child needs to maintain cleanliness and hygiene, such as what to do after waking up, how to use the toilet, how to wash hands, and so on.
10. 10 Ask your child to tell you the story himself. Stories are the best way for a child to show their knowledge of what is happening. From time to time, ask to tell you stories on your own.
    • Usually children talk about what they do every day or what they would like to do. With the help of these stories, try to understand if your child is thinking in the right direction, talking about things that are not appropriate for his age. Also try to determine if he has any problems, worries or fears that he might tell you about in his stories.
    • For example, if a child tells the following story: "There is one girl who usually hits all the children in school and wants to steal their food." Thus, your child may be trying to educate you about some of the bullying issues he or she has with “this” girl in school.
11. 11 Substitute one social story for another if your child gets the gist of your message. Social stories can be modified depending on the skills the child acquires. You can remove some elements from the social story or add new ones to suit your child's current needs.
    • For example, if your child already has an understanding of how to ask for a break when he feels overwhelmed, then the part of the story in which you instill these behaviors in him may be omitted or changed.

Part 2 of 3: Creating Social Stories with Suggestions

1. 1 Create visual sentences. They report on a particular situation, event, give details about who participated in the situation, what the participants will do and the reason, and so on. The main questions are: "where?", "Who?", "What?", "Why?"
   • For example, if the social story is about washing hands after going to the toilet, visual sentences should be used to talk about the situation and provide information about who should wash their hands and why (to prevent the spread of germs).
   • When describing sentences, provide the child with factual information.
2. 2 Use rewarding sentences to convey thoughts and emotions. These sentences speak about the human psyche in relation to a particular situation.
   • For example, “Mom and Dad love it when I wash my hands. They know it's good to wash their hands after using the toilet. "
3. 3 Come up with "directive" sentences, as it were, to teach the child an adequate response. Use punitive sentences to get the answers or behavior you want.
   • For example: "I will try to wash my hands every time I use the toilet."
4. 4 Use affirmative sentences to highlight other sentences. Affirmative sentences can be used in conjunction with visual, encouraging, or indicative sentences.
   • Affirmative sentences will emphasize its importance, be it a visual, encouraging, or indicative sentence.
   • For example: “I will try to wash my hands after using the toilet. What I am doing is very important. " The second sentence emphasizes the importance of hand washing.
5. 5 Create joint sentences to highlight the importance of other people. These sentences will help the child understand / realize the role of others in certain situations.
   • For example: “There will be active traffic on the road. My mom and dad will help me cross the road. " This helps the child understand that he must cooperate with Mom and Dad to cross the road.
6. 6 Write control sentences as a reminder for the child to help him remember and apply a quality in a specific situation. These are personalized offers.
   • For example: "To be healthy, I need to eat vegetables and fruits at every meal, as even plants need water and sunlight to grow."
7. 7 Use partial sentences to make the story interactive. These suggestions will help the child make some guesses about the situation. The child will be able to guess the next steps in the situation.
   • For example: “My name is ------ and my brother's name is ------ (descriptive sentence). My brother will feel ------- when I share my toys with him (incentive offer). "
   • Incomplete sentences can be used in conjunction with visual, rewarding, cooperative, affirmative and controlling, but only when the child has a good understanding of certain situations and his behavior is the same as expected.

Part 3 of 3: Using Social Storytelling Designed for Different Situations

1. 1 Understand that different stories can have different goals. Social stories can be used for a number of different needs, for example: to acclimate a child to a new environment, to allay fears and self-doubt, to teach hygiene and cleanliness, to do certain procedures.
2. 2 Tell your child a story to help them express their emotions and thoughts. For example, a story might be like this: “I am angry and upset. I feel like I want to scream and beat others. But if you upset the people around me, then no one will play with me. My mom and dad told me that I should tell the adult next to me that I was upset. I will take a deep breath and exhale and will feel better soon. "
3. 3 Use the story to help your child get ready for a visit to the doctor or dentist. A specific social story should prepare the child mentally for what to expect in the doctor's office.
   • This is very important because it would be great if children with autism enjoy visiting a doctor. As a rule, they are disturbed by too bright lights, loud sounds, close proximity of strangers, increased sensitivity to sensory stimulation. A visit to a doctor's or dentist's office includes most of the above things. Therefore, it is very important for the child that he is prepared and mentally disposed to cooperate with doctors and parents.
   • Social stories can include many aspects, so the doctor's office can be a place for a child to play with toys or watch books, not be afraid of bright lights, procedures, and obey the doctor, and so on.
4. 4 Introduce new concepts, rules and behavior into history. Social stories can be used to prepare a child for new games, sports during physical education lessons. They can instill the skills needed to play soccer or baseball.
   • Social stories will also help the child's expected social behavior when playing sports. For example, children may not be ready to share the ball or pass the ball to others while playing. Therefore, when teaching children the skills and techniques of playing football or basketball, social stories can be introduced and integrated with stories about what is important to share and so on.
   • Sports can teach many valuable life skills to children with autism spectrum disorders. Through social sports stories, a child can learn life skills, which in turn will enable them to make friends and build trust, which is very important.
5. 5 Tell your child a social story to help suppress their fears. Social stories can be used if a child with autism spectrum disorder starts school or moves to a new school, the next grade. Whatever the reason, he may feel fear and anxiety.
   • In this way, children could move into a new class through social stories. This will help to quickly get used to the team, in the dining room, in the library, on the playground.
   • Since the child has already visited the required places through social stories, he / she feels less insecure and less preoccupied with the new place. It is a known fact that children with autism spectrum disorders find it difficult to get used to change. But when you prepare before that, the child will cope with it with less resistance.
6. 6 Break social stories apart. Sometimes social stories can be divided into parts to make them easier to understand. This can be useful for significant events such as preparing for an airplane trip.
   • The story should be done in great detail and include such things: the need to stand in line, wait in the halls, actions while waiting, behavior (should the child go gray quietly or run, make a noise or not), and so on.
   • In the example above about traveling by plane, in the first part of the story, you can talk about situations that include preparing for the trip, packing your suitcases and getting to the airport, for example:
   • “The place we go to is warmer than where we live, so I need to pack light clothes, not warm jackets. It might rain just at this time, so I need to take my umbrella with me. I will have enough time for myself, so I will take my favorite books, puzzles and little toys with me. "
7. 7 Create the second and third parts of the social story by talking about the appropriate behavior. The second part can talk about what the child can expect at the airport, for example:
   • “There will be many other people at the airport. It's okay, because they travel like me too. My mom and dad have to take a boarding pass, so we are eligible for the flight. To do this, we must wait for our turn. This may take some time. I can stand with Mom and Dad, or sit in the stroller next to them. I can also read a book if I want to. "
   • The third part can talk about what to expect on the plane and how to behave accordingly. For example: “There will be rows of seating, and there may be many other people. There may be a stranger sitting next to me, but that's good. I have to sit down in my seat and fasten my seat belt. If I need something, I must quietly tell my mom or dad about it. I shouldn't scream, yell, jerk my legs, but should be calm and obedient, obey my mom and dad in everything. "

Tips

• Visual and rewarding offers should dominate directive and controlling ones. You should only use 1 directive or control sentence for every 4-5 visual and promotional sentences.
• Social stories can be used both at school and at home. They do not relate to any one process or situation, so they can be used by teachers, doctors and parents.
• Social stories are used to prepare a child for something (be it an event, day, place, etc.) in order to help the child accept change so that he knows what he can count on in a particular social situation and can behave in the best possible way.