Social Stories
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A social story is one type of proactive teaching tool to help individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make sense of and function in the social world.[1] These individualized short stories are written with a specifically defined style and format.[2] They describe a situation in terms of relevant social cues, the perspective of others, and often suggest an appropriate response.[3] They may be used to applaud accomplishments, with a target of 50% of all social stories use for this reason.[4]
Definition
Social stories were developed in 1993 by Carol Gray as a method to help teach social skills to individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). [5]. Individuals with an ASD have significant impairments in the social domain as defined by the nature of the diagnosis as cited in the DSM-IV. The social impairment may include, but not limited to, the use of body language, play skills, understanding emotions, and social communication ability.[6] There is a great emphasis placed on the importance of teaching social skills to individuals with an ASD as it has been identified as one of the best indicators of positive long-term outcomes.[7]
A social story is an individualized short story that describes social relevant cues in any given situation. They break down a challenging social situation into understandable steps by omitting irrelevant information and by being highly descriptive in nature to help an individual with an ASD understand the entirely of a situation. They include answers to questions such as who, what, when, where, and why in social situations through the use of visuals and written text. Social stories are used as a way to teach particular social skills.[8] For example, they may be a chosen teaching method if an individual has difficulty: identifying important cues in a given situation; taking another’s point of view; understanding rules, routines, situations, upcoming events or abstract concepts; and understanding expectations.
The goal of a social story is to reveal accurate social information in a clear and reassuring manner that is easily understood by the individual with an ASD. The improved understanding of the events and expectations may lead to a change in behavior, although the goal of a social story should not be to change individual behavior.[unreliable source?][9]
Social stories use a specifically defined style and format.[10] There are types of sentences (descriptive, perspective, directive, affirmative) and a basic sentence type ratio. Additional sentence types have been added with further additions to the model including control, co-operative and partial sentence types.[11]
Types of Sentences
There are seven sentence types that may be used in a Social Story [12].
Descriptive Sentences: are truthful and observable sentences (opinion- and assumption-free) that identify the most relevant factors in a social situation. They often answer "wh" questions.
Perspective Sentences: refer to or describe the internal state of other people (their knowledge/thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, motivation or physical condition) so that the individual can learn how others' perceive various events.
Directive Sentence: presents or suggests, in positive terms, a response or choice of responses to a situation or concept.
Affirmative Sentences: enhances the meaning of statements and may express a commonly shared value or opinion. They can also stress the important points, refer to a law or rule to reassure the learner.
Control Sentences: identifies personal strategies the individual will use to recall and apply information. They are written by the individual after reviewing the social story.
Cooperative Sentences: describe what others will do to assist the individual. This helps to ensure consistent responses by a variety of people.
Partial Sentences: encourages the individual to make guesses regarding the next step in a situation, the response of another individual, or his/her own response.
Effectiveness of Social Stories
Research
According to a recent internet survey, 36% of parents use social stories to help their children with autism.[13]
Several studies with small groups of school age children on the autism spectrum have reported benefits from using social stories (Mirenda 2001). Social stories are seen as effective as long as they are suited to the child's communication skills (Richards 2000). As with many interventions for autism spectrum disorders, more empirical research with larger numbers of children involved is needed to fully qualify social stories as an evidence-based practice.
References
- ^ Rust & Smith (2006). "How should the effectiveness of social stories to modify the behavior of children on the autistic spectrum be tested?". Autism. 10(2): pp. 125–138.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Gray, C (2003). Social Stories 10.0. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
- ^ Gray, Carol. "Social Stories 10.0".
- ^ Gray, C (2003). Social Stories 10.0. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
- ^ Rust & Smith (2006). "How should the effectiveness of social stories to modify the behavior of children on the autistic spectrum be tested?". Autism. 10(2): pp. 125–138.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Baker, J. (2003). Social Skills Training. Shanee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing.
- ^ Strain, P. (2001). "Empirically based social skill intervention: A case for quality-of-life improvement". Behavioral Disorders. Special Issue: The meaning of science and empirical rigor in the social sciences. 27(1): pp. 30-36.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Ali & Fredrickson (2006). "Investigating the evidence base of social stories". Educational Psychology in Practice. 22(4): pp. 355-377.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ [www.thegraycenter.org "How to write social stories"]. 2006.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ Gray; et al. (1993). The social story book. Jenison, MI: Jenison Public Schools.
{{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|first=(help) - ^ Gray, C (2000). The New Social Story Book. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
- ^ Gray, C. (2000). The New Social Story Book. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
- ^ Green, V.A.; Pituch, K.A.; Itchon, J.; Choi, A.; O'Reilly, M.; Sigafoos, J. "Internet survey of treatments used by parents of children with autism," Res Developmental Disabil, 2006, 27(1):70-84.