Social Stories Workshop from South West Autism Support Services

Last month we hosted an in-person workshop on Social Stories™ led by Lisa McCullagh of South West Autism Support Services.

Lisa first discovered the value of Social Stories nearly 25 years ago when she used her son’s special interest in Mr Bean with the aim of helping him to learn the social requirements of lining-up in the playground. This was followed in 2006 when she attended a workshop by Social Stories pioneer, Carol Gray who shared how she invented the concept to “describe a situation, skill or concept in terms of relevant social cues, perspectives and common responses in a specifically defined style and format.”

Back in 1989, Carol began writing stories for her students to share information with them that they seemed to be missing. Information that we so often take for granted and many of these stories resulted in immediate and marked improvement in her students’ responses to daily events and interactions.
 
Social Stories are based on a social understanding approach, which assumes that to teach “appropriate social responses” to a student with an autistic spectrum disorder could hold little meaning if others do not understand the student’s perspective, or the student does not understand what is occurring around them and why.
 
The first step to teaching social skills is to ensure, beyond all assumptions, that the student has accurate and specific social information. A Social Story is not something that tells a child they are doing wrong. But rather, it informs and guides. It is not to be referred to in a punitive way and it may also be seen as a social demand for those young people who experience demand avoidance.
 
Before you commence a Social Story, Gray recommends essential information-gathering via the art of observing, talking and collaborating with the aim of promoting understanding; rather than changing behaviour and the goal of sharing the information.
 
The aim of a Social Story is to share accurate social information in a patient and reassuring manner that is easily understood by its audience. Half of all social stories developed should affirm something that an individual does well. It should never be intended to change the individual’s behaviour, but to improve the individual’s understanding of events and expectations may lead to more effective responses. 

The Ten Defining Criteria and Guidelines for Writing a Social Story
 
1️. Meaningful | A Social Story meaningfully shares social information with a child in a reassuring way and at least half of the story applauds achievements.
 
2️. Structure | The story has an introduction that clearly defines the topic, a body that adds detail and a conclusion which reinforces and summarises information. A beginning, middle and end.
 
3️. Questions | A social story answers the “wh” questions (why, what, where, when and who).
 
4️. Perspective | It should be written from the first or third-person perspective (I, my, and he, she, they) and not second person (you!).
 
5️. Language | Use positive language with descriptive sentences, with the option to include any one or more five remaining sentence types (perspective, cooperative, directive, affirmative and/or control sentences).
 
6️. Perspective Sentences | Consider sentences that refer to, or describe, a person’s internal state, their knowledge, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, motivation or physical condition and health.
 
7️. Description | Describe more than direct.
 
8️. Format | Consider a format that is tailored to the abilities and interests of the audience that is usually literally accurate.
 
9️. Illustrations | Use individually tailored illustrations to enhance the meaning of the text.
 
10. Title | This should meet all the applicable Social Story criteria and share accurate information.
The topic may pose a wh- question, and is written in the first or third person, uses positive language or announces something the child does well and is easily understood /interesting by/to the audience and contains/ is accompanied by illustration.

Guidelines for Initial Writing of Social Stories
 
1. Observe a targeted situation.
To take Lisa’s example from her own experience, this could be lining-up in the playground.
 
2. Take plenty of notes, ask questions.  Do people line-up differently, say in morning break or to go to assembly? What are the sensory and social demands involved?
 
3. Speak with all adults involved, parents and school staff, Mealtime Assistants, Teaching Assistants, Teachers etc. 

4. What do you feel is the “motivation” for the current response or learned response?
 
5. Consider anxiety responses, transitional difficulties and sensory needs.
What does the child say is happening (their perceptions)?
The child’s perception is key to addressing the issues.
 
6. State what usually occurs, then state what may change. Let children know what they often can expect but what sometimes may happen. It keeps the information honest and realistic and as predictable as can be.
 
7.  Keep the information well within the child’s comprehension level. Use font size and vocabulary within their abilities.
 
8.  Avoid using term such as “always”, “will” or “never.”
Instead try to use words such as “usually,” “often,” “sometimes” and “occasionally.”
 
9. Always use the present tense so that it is relevant to current situations.
Some Social Stories can be used in the future tense if it is a preparation for something that may happen. For example, as an upcoming school holidays, a trip, going to an appointment.
 
10. Illustrations can be helpful a visual reminder to reinforce the written word, but should not distract from the message of the story.
For example, use photographs to demonstrate an area such as a classroom, playground, or toilet.
It can also be illustrated via a theme of a child’s special interest.
 
11. If it is a lengthy Social Story, break it down into steps by using a separate page per “stage.”
 
12. Remember the aim is to use the Social Story as a reminder and in a manner that increases the child’s confidence and skill level and reduces anxiety or unfamiliarity.
 
13. Keep a laminated copy availability once you are able to fade out the Social Story for any reoccurring incidences.

Making Sense of the Sentences
 
Descriptive sentences objectively address the wh- questions: where, the situation takes place, who is involved, what they are doing, and why they may be doing it.
Descriptive Sentences are accurate, assumption-free statements of fact.
 
For example:

• My name is…
• I am attending a discussion on Social Stories.
• The speaker is talking to the audience.

 
Perspective sentences give a glimpse into the minds of those involved in the story and can provide details about the emotions and thoughts of others.
 
This is a type of perspective sentence that may appear in a Social Story.
Most of the time, perspective sentences describe the thoughts and feelings of other people.
 
For example:

• The teacher will like it that I am listening to him.
• It makes me feel happy when I get an email saying thank you for a task I completed.

 
Directive Sentences suggest desired responses tailored to the individual and identify a possible response/solution, and/or gently direct behaviours.
If possible, try to avoid the use of words like “must,” “need” or “should.”
Using the word try opens the space for the student to learn the appropriate behaviours for a social situation.
 
For example:

• I will try to listen to the teacher.
• I will try to sit quietly.

 
Control Sentences are used as a mnemonic device and are often authored by the student himself. It can be a sentence to help remember the story or to deal with the situation. Control sentences may not be used in every story and may be specifically paired with a visual cue to be used as a reminder for the individual of the focus of the story.
 
For example:

• “I changed my mind….”
• When someone says, “I changed my mind,” I can think of an idea, like a caterpillar changing into a butterfly (in the words of a student with ASD).

Using Comic Strip Conversations

Created by Carol Gray, Comic Strip Conversations (CSCs) are simple visual representations of conversation using stick figures and symbols to represent social interactions and abstract aspects of conversation and colour can be used to represent the emotional content of a statement or message.
 
By seeing the different elements of a conversation presented visually, some of the more abstract aspects of social communication (such as recognising the feelings of others) are made more 'concrete' and are therefore easier to understand.
 
Comic strip conversations can also offer an insight into how an autistic person perceives a situation and can show the things that are actually said in a conversation, how people might be feeling and what people's intentions might be.
 
Comic Strip Conversations can help autistic children to understand concepts that they find particularly difficult. By drawing as they talk, CSCs can be used to learn about different social situations. 
In a comic strip conversation, the autistic person takes the lead role, with parents, carers or teachers offering support and guidance.
 
Comic Strip Conversations can be used to plan for a situation in the future that may be causing anxiety or concern. For example, an exam or a social event. However, remember that plans can sometimes change and it is important to present the information in a way that allows for unexpected changes to a situation.
 
How to Create your Own Comic Strip Conversation
 
1. Start with small talk (for example, talking about the weather) to get the person you are supporting familiar with drawing whilst talking and to mimic ordinary social interactions.
 
2. Ask a range of questions about a specific situation or type of social interaction and the autistic person answers by speaking and drawing their response.
 
3. Summarise the event or situation you have discussed by using the drawings as a guide.
 
4. Think about how to address any identified problems or concerns.
 
5. Develop an Action Plan for similar situations in the future; which will be a helpful guide for the autistic person.
 
6. For complex situations, or for people who have difficulty reporting events in sequence, comic strip boxes may be used, or drawings can be numbered in the sequence in which they occur.
 
7. You can use paper, pencils, crayons and markers, and computer word processing applications, or use an app. Ask the person you are supporting to choose what materials they would like to use.
 
8. You can prepare your Comic Strip conversations in a notebook, or save on a smartphone or tablet to refer back to as helpful, and to recall key concepts.

Thank You and More Information
​We thank Lisa for leading this informative workshop session and for the useful notes here. 
For more information, you can click on the links below.

Carol Gray Social Stories

South West Autism Support Services