Social stories

Everyone is unique. No two people are exactly the same.

Throughout a child’s life, they will face many different challenges for example going to the doctor or the dentist, listening to the chatter of children in a school dining room, leaving an adult/carer to attend school or meeting and making new friends. The list is endless. Whilst many children will embrace these changes, others will view this with a heightened level of anxiety, thus impacting on their day to day lives. Social Stories can help.

What are social stories?

Social Stories were created by Carol Gray in the early nineties as a tool to describe different social situations. They are often used to help children with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.

Social Stories are a social learning tool that supports the safe and meaningful exchange of information. They are generally a short sequence of sentences that can help a child to acknowledge and address concerns that they may have about any given situation. The emphasis of the stories is to remain positive throughout, help children to feel confident and raise self-awareness.They are used as a means of clearly communicating information about a context, skill or concept in a way that is meaningful. 

At Long Toft Primary, we encourage every child to feel able to express themselves in a positive manner. However, if they are unable to engage in certain aspects of their education, then adults working with them may suggest accessing social stories to address concerns. Social Stories can be shared in groups or one to one and the intervention can be supported by classroom staff or PET staff.  Social Stories can also be used in the home environment as well as in school and the links at the bottom of the page provides examples.

Examples

Sunderland Autism Outreach Team

COVID-19 example - Carol Gray

Social distancing example

Face mask example

A story for hope - Carol Gray