Social Stories

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Social Stories are a concept devised by Carol Gray in 1991 to improve the social skills of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).[1]

Social Stories are short stories written or tailored to an autistic individual to help them understand and behave appropriately in social situations.[2] The stories have a specifically defined style and format.[3]

They describe a situation in terms of relevant social cues, the perspective of others, and often suggest an appropriate response.[4][5] They may also be used to applaud accomplishments; roughly 50% of all Social Stories are targeted to be used for this reason.[6]

Social Stories are a relatively straightforward intervention.[7] However, there is substantial variation in their use, and research into their effectiveness has been limited.[2] It is not known whether they are effective.[8]

Detail

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.[9] 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.[10]

A Social Story is an individualized short story that describes social relevant cues in any given situation. It breaks down a challenging social situation into understandable steps by omitting irrelevant information and by being highly descriptive to help an individual with an ASD understand the entirety of a situation. It includes answers to questions such as who, what, when, where, and why in social situations through the use of visuals and written text.[11] Social Stories are used to teach particular social skills,[12] such as 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.[13]

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 it is suggested that the goal of a Social Story should not be to change individual behavior.[12]

Social Stories use a specifically defined style and format.[14] In the initial version, four types of sentences were used (descriptive, perspective, directive, affirmative), along with a basic sentence type ratio. Control, co-operative and partial sentences types have been added to the model.[15]

While the primary mode of presentation of Social Stories remains written text, other formats have been trialled with younger children and people with intellectual disabilities. Such formats have included singing,[16] apron story-telling,[17] and computer-based presentations.[18][19]

Types of sentences

There are seven sentence types that may be used in a Social Story.[14]

  • 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 sentences: 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. Any of the above sentences can be written as a partial sentence with a portion of the sentence being a blank space to complete.[12]

Social Story ratio: Two to five cooperative, descriptive, perspective, and/or affirmative sentences for every directive or control sentence.[15]

Research

Population

It was suggested originally that this method should be used with only higher functioning individuals who possess basic language ability;[3] however, these guidelines were expanded to include children with more severe learning disabilities.[20] To accommodate differences in ability, one sentence per page paired with pictures could help individuals concentrate on one concept at a time while the pictures enhance the meaning of the text. The addition of pictorial representation or visual is supported by claims that many individuals with an ASD learn visually.[9][21] The efficacy of using Social Stories with other populations of individuals, other than those with an ASD, has not yet been sufficiently studied.[8]

Evaluating research

Although Social Stories have been recommended as an effective intervention for children with ASD since the early 1990s, the research on their effectiveness is still limited.[2]

The American Psychological Association has identified two levels of criteria which are used to consider an intervention "empirically supported".[22] An intervention is considered well established if it meets the following criteria:

  • greater than nine well-controlled single-case design studies comparing the intervention to another treatment
  • the studies have treatment manuals
  • the studies clearly describe characteristics of the cline samples

An intervention is considered probably efficacious if it meets the above criteria for greater than three single-case studies.

Social Stories are neither considered well established, nor considered probably efficacious, due to the limitations of the current body of research.[8]

Effectiveness

Reviews of the use of Social Stories have found that the reported effects were highly inconsistent,[2][12][8][7] and there was substantial variation in the delivery of the intervention.[2] Changes in target behavior were generally modest.[2][12] A 2006 review found Social Stories to be in the non-effective range in interventions or at very best, in the low end of the mildly effective range.[7] It was often hard to attribute success to the Social Story technique since there were multiple interventions used simultaneously.[23][2][12][5] Specifically, many of the studies used prompting methods such as verbal, visual or physical prompts and/or positive reinforcement. Two reviews suggested that continual implementation may be required; children should reread their Social Stories with some frequency to continue to benefit from their desired effects.[2][15]

Social Stories are a relatively straightforward intervention[7] that allows for stimulus control to be transferred from teachers and peers directly to the student with an ASD.[11]

References

  1. ^ http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/approaches-therapies-and-interventions/skills-based-interventions/social-stories-and-comic-strip-conversations.aspx
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Sansosti FJ, Powell-Smith KA, Kincaid D (Winter 2004). "A research synthesis of Social Story intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder" ([dead link] – Scholar search). Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. 19 (4): pp. 194–204. doi:10.1177/10883576040190040101. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); External link in |format= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Gray CA, Garand JD (1993). "Social Stories: improving responses of students with autism with accurate social information". Focus on Autistic Behavior. 8 (1): pp. 1–10. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ Goldberg Edelson M (1995). "Social Stories". Autism Collaboration. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  5. ^ a b Reynhout G, Carter M (2007). "Social Story efficacy for a child with autism spectrum disorder and moderate intellectual disability" (PDF). Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. 22 (3): pp. 173–82. doi:10.1177/10883576070220030401. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ Gray C (2003). Social Stories 10.0. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
  7. ^ a b c d Reynhout G, Carter M (2006). "Social Stories for children with disabilities". J Autism Dev Disord. 36 (4): 445–69. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0086-1. PMID 16755384.
  8. ^ a b c d Nichols SL, Hupp SDA, Jewell JD, Zeigler CS (2005). "Review of Social Story interventions for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders". Journal for Evidence-Based Practices for Schools. 6 (1): pp. 90–120. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ a b Quill KA (1995). Teaching Children with Autism: Strategies to Enhance Communication and Socialization. New York: Delmar Publishers. ISBN 0827362692.
  10. ^ Strain PS (November 2001). "Empirically based social skill intervention: a case for quality-of-life improvement" (ZIP). Behavioral Disorders. 27 (1): pp. 30–36. Retrieved 2008-02-26. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  11. ^ a b Scattone D, Wilczynski SM, Edwards RP, Rabian B (December 2002). "Decreasing disruptive behaviors of children with autism using Social Stories". Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 32 (6): pp. 535–43. doi:10.1023/A:1021250813367. PMID 12553590. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ a b c d e f Ali S, Frederickson N (December 2006). "Investigating the evidence base of Social Stories". Educational Psychology in Practice. 22 (4): pp. 355–77. doi:10.1080/02667360600999500. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  13. ^ Chatwin, I. (2007). 'Why do you do that?Stories to support social understanding for people with ASD' in B. Carpenter & J. Egerton (eds) New Horizons in Special Education. Stourbridge: Sunfield ISBN 0-9550568-2-9.
  14. ^ a b Gray C (2000). The New Social Story Book. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons. ISBN 1-885477-66-X.
  15. ^ a b c Crozier S, Tincani M (2007). "Effects of Social Stories on prosocial behavior of preschool children with autism spectrum disorders". J Autism Dev Disord. 37 (9): 1803–14. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0315-7. PMID 17165149.
  16. ^ Brownell M (2002). "Musically adapted Social Stories to modify behaviors in students with autism: four case studies". Journal of Music Therapy. 39 (2): pp. 117–144. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  17. ^ Haggerty, N., Black, R. & Smith, G. (2005). "Increasing self-managed coping skills through Social Stories and apron storytelling". Teaching Exceptional Children. 37 (4): pp. 40–47. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Hagiwara T & Myles B (1999). "A multimedia Social Story intervention: teaching skills to children with autism". Focus on Autism and other Developmental Disabilities. 14 (1): pp. 82–95. doi:10.1177/108835769901400203. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  19. ^ Chatwin, I. (2007). 'Why do you do that?Stories to support social understanding for people with ASD' in B. Carpenter & J. Egerton (eds) New Horizons in Special Education. Stourbridge: Sunfield ISBN 0-9550568-2-9.
  20. ^ Swaggert BL; et al. (April 1995). "Using Social Stories to teach social and behavioral skills to children with autism". Focus on Autistic Behavior. 10 (1): pp. 1–16. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
  21. ^ Grandin T (1996). Thinking in Pictures. New York: Vintage Books, Random House. ISBN 0679772898.
  22. ^ American Psychological Association (1995). "Training in and dissemination of empirically-validated treatments: Report and recommendations". Clinical Psychologist. 48: pp. 3–24. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  23. ^ Rust J, Smith A (March 2006). "How should the effectiveness of Social Stories to modify the behaviour of children on the autistic spectrum be tested? Lessons from the literature". Autism. 10 (2): pp. 125–38. doi:10.1177/1362361306062019. PMID 16613863. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
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