How to Write a Social Story for kids with autism or Aspergers, or other behavior issues

Social Stories are a very effective, and proven, method for helping kids on the autism spectrum learn a new task, skill or understanding. You too can write a library of social stories for your loved one or students, saving thousands of dollars in specialist fees.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A child's behavior issue, which you want to manage or control
• An idea of a positive behavior that you want the negative behavior replaced with
• Unlined paper
• A black marker
• A Stapler

1. Use one sheet of letter sized, unlined paper to draft your story on, and another four to five sheets to use as your "story book". Generally, six to eight half-pages for the interior of the story works well, depending on the topic and age of the child. Include two more halves for the cover and the "The End" page, and you have 4 or 5 whole sheets of paper. (Of course, you will want extra sheets, just in case.)

2. Jot down your points to make. We make a point on each page, and each point takes us closer to the goal behavior. Number to 8 or 10 on your sheet, writing Setting at #1, and The End at the last number. The story should progress in a step by step format: First, next, last. Giving the order of the steps helps them remember the process.

3. 
    
   Turn the negative into a positive.

   Turn the issue into a positive behavior. Decide on the behavior to change, and what you'd like to replace the behavior with. For this example we'll use the issue of not listening to the teacher, resulting in not following directions. The positive behavior could be "Following Directions at School".

4. 
    
   Illustrations are added once the text is complete, and is covered in a later step.

   Put the setting in a positive light. The goal of this step is to introduce the setting of the story to the child, and to reassure the child that all will be ok. As with most pages in the story, no more than 3-4 sentences per page is a good guideline. (NOTE: Although not always used in social stories, it is very effective to write the story n "first person", as if the child were telling the story. This gives an affirmative quality to the story.) If we want to "set the stage" for following directions at school, we could say: "Being at school can be fun. I am here to learn new things. My teacher knows a lot. She can help me learn lots of new things." With the above text, we are telling the child a) This has to do with being at school b) Why are we at school? To learn. c) introduce the element which s/he interacts with, the element crucial to the change. (e.g., We want the child to listen to the teacher, so the teacher is the critical element at the setting.) and d) the critical element can be of benefit to the child. NOTE: Kids with autism can be very concerned with the unknown. Making the unknown known is reassuring.

5. 
    
   Kids with Aspergers love to learn and respect intelligence.

   Command attention. A good second point to make is to put the critical element in an important frame of reference. This gets the child's attention. You will then continue, on your draft page, jotting down the points you'd like to make for each page.

6. 
    
   In this page, a 9 word replacement behavior is dominant over the 2 word negative behavior in the same sentence,

   Say what you want to happen. The following points/pages should reflect the behavior you want to see, not what you don't want to see. What is read or heard is generally processed with the majority of the words used. For instance, when you remove one word ("don't") from "Don't talk when the teacher is giving directions", you get the behavior opposite of what you want. "...look at her while she gives me the directions" is better.

7. 
    
   Get the child EXCITED about learning a new behavior!

   Make a compelling argument. In the next page of this example, we say to the child, "Next I will try to think about what she is saying. This may help me remember better!" We tell the child that if s/he thinks about what the teacher is saying, there will be a benefit to the child. NOTE: Kids with autism, especially HFA or Aspergers, know that they forget, and that is frustrating to them. Giving a child with autism tools to help with frustrations is typically of great personal satisfaction to the child.

8. 
    
   The goal behavior is demonstrated in the story.

   Bring out the goal. The next step shows the goal behavior. "Last, I will try to follow the directions as closely as possible."

9. 
    
   Cover your bases with a possible change in plans.

   Make room for change. Make sure that your bases are covered with any contingencies. For instance, "I may have questions about the
   directions." Knowing what to do when there is a change is another reassuring thing for kids on the Autism Spectrum.

10. 
     
    Give any helpful hints to help accomplish the goal

    The next point in our example illustrates gives more information: Writing instructions down can help him or her remember the directions. The text reads: "Sometimes writing down the directions can be helpful. If I have a hard time remembering the directions, I will try to write them down."

11. 
     
    An exciting by-product of the effort is that the child gets to learn new things!

    Wrap it up. End on a positive, upbeat point that encourages the reader to make efforts toward the goal behavior. "When I follow directions, my
    teacher can help me learn a lot!" NOTE: Kids particularly with Aspergers LOVE to learn new things! It isn't a chore, but a privilege.

12. 
     
    Social story drawing should be simple, uncomplicated.

    Picture it. Less is more with the illustrations. Add a sample illustration next to each step of your draft. Illustrations can be as simple as a smiley face, stick figures, an arrow pointing to something like eyes or ears. It is NOT necessary to make complicated or detailed pictures, as that could draw attention away from the message. The illustrations should support the text as if the child could not read the words. Ideally, the message should be pretty clear with the pictures alone.

13. Pull it together. Put each point of text on its own half page, along with its illustration. Don't forget a cover and a THE END page, and staple!

Tips & Warnings

• Use words that have wiggle room, like "I'll try to..." instead of "I will...".
• You can use a simple desktop publishing application, such as MS Publisher, or Photoshop.
• Tailoring a story for a child help him or her relate better, such as "Carson's story about eating different textures of food."
• Get your kiddo's feedback! The story is meant to be read and re-read, so make it one that s/he likes.
• Don't be confining. Use words like "sometimes", "may", "...as possible." and "can" in lieu of DO or DOES.
• Limit color illustrations, which take more thought processing than black and white.
• Don't lecture. Instead, teach!

Resources

• MOVIE of updated version of the social story in this how-to
• Download the social story in this how-to
• Social Stories on Amazon.com
• Short Social Story Movie: Understanding Autism
• Downloadable social stories
• Blog about life as an adult with Aspergers

[Lorin-Neikirk]

on 11/20/2008 I just published another downloadable Social Story eBook, called ''A Little Learning Book About...Talking In Class''. To see a preview, or to download this book, go to http://www.lulu.com/content/4989770 Thanks! -Lorin Neikirk