“Social Stories and Young Children: Strategies for Teachers” By Carli Raisutis

Example Video of a Social Stories Tbq8&feature=related Tbq8&feature=related

How to Greet Someone at School. There are many ways to greet someone at school. Hey Charlie And Snoopy! Great to see you! Yo!

When I see someone I know, I will try to smile and say “hi” or “hello”. They may say “hi” or “hello” back to me. I can ask someone “How are you today?” They may stop to talk with me.

In the morning, I will try to say “good morning!” to someone. At dismissal time, I will try to say “good-bye” or “see you tomorrow! Good Morning!

Sometimes, if I am just passing someone I know, I can smile, wave, or just nod my head. Most people like it when I smile at them. Smiling can make people feel good.

When I say “hi” or “good-bye” to someone, it makes them happy. People like to feel happy. Bye Patty!

That was an example of a Social Story that I found at: cafe.com/examples-of-autism-social- stories.html cafe.com/examples-of-autism-social- stories.html There are really great examples of more on that cite too!

What is a Social Story? Social Stories have been proven to help children with Autism, Aspergers, and Learning Disabilities develop an understanding of social situations. Social Stories are stories that teachers or parents write to help children complete or improve their social skills in a given area. They seek to tell children what might happen in a certain situation and why these situations occur. They also try to get the reader to understand the different perspectives in a given situation.

Preparing a Social Story Preparing a Social Story should take time, thought, and planning. They can be individualized for one student or they can be for a whole class. For example, if you noticed that your entire class is having a hard time raising their hands before they speak, it would be beneficial to make a Social Story that describes why raising your hand is necessary and what to do.

Whip-Around-Pass-Around Are there any social stories you would use in your class? What is the behavior you would like your student to change/learn? OR… Give an example of a behavior where social stories will be beneficial.

First Steps… Pinpoint the behavior you want the child to fix or gain. Teachers should write a draft of the story first. It is important to involve the student as much as you can in the making of their own social story. It gives them a sense of ownership, which leads to more learning.

Include Pictures Every page should have a picture. The article suggests that having a picture of students in the actual classroom will catch the attention of the other students in the class. *It’s important that the text and the pictures are representative of the child’s culture and that they do no distract from the main point of the story.*

Construct a Book Each page should be interesting to look at but not distracting to the student. Each page should contain no more than one picture and two sentences. The sentences should be short but clear. It is also helpful to the students to own multiple copies of the social story. Not only does it expose the student more to the story, but it also increases communication between home and the school.

Reading the Story It is important to read the story in an engaging way. Like every lesson we do, we also need an Anticipatory Set. (ex: just looking a pictures and predicting what it is about.) It works best if the story is read before the situation is going to take place. For example, if the Social Story is about how to line up for lunch, you would read the story before lunch time. It is also important to make time in the lesson plan for re-reading. The more the students are exposed to it, the more that they will be able to generalize the social situation in their own life.

After the teacher has read the story to the students enough times it is helpful to allow the children to retell the story with just using the pictures. Next, students benefit from actually practicing the situation in role-playing. Each student should play many different roles to make sure they experience a social situation from different perspectives. Of course, like every behavior it is important to give praise to the students when the correct behavior is used in the correct situation.

As future special education teachers it is so important to not only teach academics but also the social skills that are needed to function in society.

More, C. M. (2011). Social stories and young children: strategies for teachers. Intervention in School and Clinic, 47, 1-8. Retrieved October 9, 2011, from the Sage database.