Formula for Developing a Social Story

The four types of sentences:

1. Descriptive – tells where situations occur, who is involved, what they are doing, and why.
Example: "At recess, there are many children playing with the ball."

2. Perspective – describes the reactions and feelings of the student and of other people.
Example: "When I take the ball without asking, it makes the other children angry."

3. Directive – tells student what to do.
Example: "When I want to play with the ball, I will ask the other children first."

4. Control – after the social story is read, the student writes sentences to help her remember the information from the social story (often considered optional).
Example: The student may write, "It can make other children angry if I take the ball without asking."

According to Carol Grey, a good social story includes the following characteristics:

• One directive or control statement for every two to five descriptive and/or perspective statements. The story may not include a directive sentence. Choose the number of sentences to go on each page, according to the child’s functioning level.
• One to three sentences per page may be appropriate for some students; however, if the student is higher functioning, more sentences may be used. In fact, a social story for a child with Asperger Syndrome may be text only and fill one half to a full page.
• To facilitate the student’s understanding of the social story, you may want to address only one concept per page, depending on the child's cognitive skills.
• Social stories can be written in book format, bound or placed in a notebook. However, they can also be written on poster board, cardboard, laminated paper, or on a chalk-board.
• Photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, or pictorial icons can help aid in student's understanding the social story. Some children are distracted by pictures or may have difficulty generalizing from a picture.

See Johnny’s and Betsy’s social stories on the next page.