WRITING A SOCIAL STORY
What is a social story?: A social story is a document that is written to describe social situations that are difficulty and/or confusing for children.
Who writes them?: Parents, teachers, professionals (OT, Speech, and other therapists) often write social stories.
Unique qualities of social stories: Social stories are useful for identifying relevant social cues, new routines and rules, positively defining a desired social skill, or preparing a child for an upcoming event.
What is included in a social story?: Each story should identify and describe relevant social cues and desired responses to a specific situations. The social story should be written with the child’s specific difficulties, abilities, and learning style. It can include words written, pictures, photos, etc.
HOW TO WRITE A SOCIAL STORY
1. Choose a situation or target behavior (i.e. going to the dentist, playing with new friends, Christmas vacation, etc)
2. Gather information
a. Note what you observe about your child in the identified situation
b. Note what you do not observe, in other words, what aspects change in the situations (sometimes it goes this way, sometimes it goes another way)
3. Write the story using the following outline:
a. Begin with a description of the situation. (i.e. My name is Sally. I go to Lincoln Elementary school. Sometimes Miss Smith tells us to work in groups. We don’t always have the same people in our group. Sometimes I feel anxious or afraid to be in a group with new kids.”
b. Be sure to describe your child’s situation from your child’s point of view.
c. Then, continue with directions for your child within the story. Keep these POSITIVE by beginning them with “I will…” or “ I can…” For example: “ I can work in groups with other kids. I will work with different kids that I do not know. When I am feeling anxious or afraid about meeting new kids, I can stop, take a deep breath, and count to ten. Then, I can ___________ (fill in strategies for calming ex. Squeeze a ball, chew gum, wear a weighted vest, etc).
d. Describe the reactions of others. For example, “When I talk to one of the other new kids, it makes them happy because they are anxious and afraid of new kids, too!” or, “When I chew gum, I can work in a group, and Miss Smith is proud of my good work.”
