Social Stories for Kids With Autism

Social stories for autistic kids can help prepare them for a new or complex situation. Autistic children typically don't learn through imitation as other kids do. They get easily overwhelmed in new situations because they have trouble generalizing—in other words, a single experience won't help them understand how future or similar experiences are likely to play out.

It’s easy to see why an autistic child may have a "meltdown" when asked to manage the social expectations of a birthday party, a Halloween parade at school, or even a trip to the dentist.

Social stories can help autistic kids prepare for new situations with a few steps:

• Figure out what the expectations and options will be.
• Write them down (ideally with illustrative pictures).
• Present them in clear, simple terms.
• Rehearse often enough that the child feels comfortable and confident.

Creating social stories takes planning, thought, and insight to do well. This article goes over how social stories are used for autistic kids and how to create them.

The Origin of the Social Story

Social stories were created by teacher and consultant Carol Gray. In 1990, Gray began experimenting with the idea of creating social stories to help her autistic students prepare for a range of school-based situations. Over several decades, Gray perfected a system and approach for social stories, which she patented. While many people create their own social stories, Gray holds the trademark for the term.

Since 1990, other researchers have explored the efficacy of social stories, and the results have been mixed. Research suggests that social stories can only be useful when the audience is engaged, interested, and able to understand and act on the content.

The Definition of a Social Story

In a basic sense, a social story is a short story with realistic pictures intended to help an autistic child, teen, or adult better understand and/or navigate the world.

According to Carol Gray, the criteria for a good social story include:

• Share accurate information in a supportive, meaningful, and descriptive manner.
• Understand your audience (the autistic person) and their attitude toward the skill, concept, or situation being described.
• Include a title, introduction, body, and summarizing conclusion in each social story.
• When writing, use a first- or third-person voice, have a positive tone, and be literal and accurate.
• Answer the key questions: who, what, where, why, when, and how.
• Include descriptive sentences as well as coaching sentences.
• Describe more than you direct.
• Review and refine your social stories before presenting them.
• Plan before you write. Monitor outcomes, mix and match as needed, and provide both instruction and applause.
• Include at least 50% "applause" (affirmation) for the audience.

Elements of a Typical Social Story

Here are the typical elements of a social story written for young autistic children:

• Title
• Introduction page (to set the scene or describe a situation)
• Pages with few words (with language complexity appropriate for the audience) 
• Descriptions, coaching language, and "applause" for the reader
• Images (such as large photographs or realistic drawings that specifically reflect the story)
• A conclusion that is positive and supportive

Social stories can be in color or black and white, but accurate color is preferred because autistic people think literally and will expect, for example, that grass is green.

Social Story Examples

Most social stories (though by no means all of them) are written for young children to help them manage daily events, emotions, frustrations, and challenges. Some stories are written to prepare children for unusual events.

Relatively few social stories are written for autistic teens, and even fewer are written to help autistic adults better understand abstract concepts, laws, or subtle social cues.

Example of a Social Story

Here’s a sample social story format:

How Social Stories Are Used

Social stories help autistic people understand concepts, ideas, skills, and behaviors. In an ideal world, unique social stories would be written and illustrated for each autistic person. In practice, pre-made social stories are often used by groups, usually in school or therapeutic settings, but also at home or in the community. Social stories can be read aloud like a book, discussed or acted out, and shared with teachers and parents.

Misuse of Social Stories

Social stories are simple, so it's easy to misuse them or create stories that are ineffective. Social Stories are not narratives about children behaving “the right way,” nor are they directives for completing tasks or behaving appropriately.

When creating social stories, writers should avoid:

• Stories that are made up entirely of directives rather than including descriptions
• Second-person ("you feel x," for example) narrative
• Metaphors, complex language, and other writing styles that autistic people have a hard time understanding
• Stories that are not accurate (for example, "Grandma is always kind" is not realistically true since no one is kind all the time)
• Stories that suggest judgment or threats ("If you misbehave, you will have to go to your room”)

Another common error in creating social stories is the misuse of visuals. Images should be as realistic, accurate, and meaningful as possible. Many creators of social stories use clip art, emojis, and other items that "decorate" the story but convey no meaning to the person reading it.

Related Research

Research on social stories for autism is limited since the method is usually looked at as part of a broader treatment plan.

Studies are also looking at whether there are differences when social stories are physical (like a paper booklet) or digital (like on a computer screen or tablet). Some researchers are also exploring using robots, video games, and social stories to help autistic kids communicate.

Case studies suggest that some autistic kids do benefit from social stories, but they may not work well for all autistic children.

Summary

Social stories are meant to help autistic people manage emotions, behavior, and communication. While they are successful for some autistic children, others do not find social stories useful. Since they are a low-cost and caregiver-friendly technique, social stories may be worth a try and can be used in different settings, like school and at home.