by Karen Ardy

Created on: July 08, 2009

Teaching Children with Autism Social Stories

It is believed that children with autism are unable to grasp the concept that others have thoughts, plans, feelings or points of view that may differ from their own. This is referred to as the "Theory of Mind". Because of this deficit, a child with autism will not have the ability to predict the appropriate behaviour in social situations.

Social Stories are simply a tool for teaching social skills to children with autism. A well written Social Story should give the child precise information about social situations that they might find to be confusing. The social situation must be described in detail but the focus should remain on the main key points. Included in the Social Story there must be a social situation that the child has an understanding of and the possible actions that may be expected of the child. This will lead to the child becoming more comfortable in a variety of different social situations because he will know what is appropriate behaviour and what is unacceptable. The child will be able to use the social story as a practice guide until he masters the skill.

Before beginning to write the Social Story, it is necessary to look at how the child socializes. If the child has a social impairment that makes him avoid social situations at all costs, a Social Story will only be effective once you have learned how to help him deal with his avoidance. It is likely that a child that practices avoidance has sensory issues that must be addressed first.

Most children with autism are socially indifferent. They do not deliberately avoid social situations but neither do they seek out any social interactions with others. With Social Stories, a child may come to understand a wide variety of social situations and with this understanding will come the confidence to take part in the activity.

Children on the higher end of the autism spectrum are more likely to be socially awkward. They want to make friends and try very hard to do so but often fail at this but they do not comprehend the need to discuss anything other than their own interests. Social Stories are usually very effective with these children because they teach about the thoughts and emotions of others and how to appropriately behave in their interactions with other children.

A Social Story is written from the perspective of the child. Higher functioning children might want to help with the writing of the story but those at the lower end of the spectrum

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