Summary

A social story helps students with ASD acquire, generalize, and maintain social skills that make them more successful at school, home and the community.

1. The first step in writing a social story is to identify the target behavior.
2. Write the social story taking care that the vocabulary matches the student's reading/functioning level. If possible, write the story with the student.
3. Format the story to match the learner's age and functioning level. For example, when writing a social story for an early elementary-age student, consider limiting the number of sentences to 1 to 3 per page and use a book-like format. If writing a social story for a high school student who has average to above-average cognitive abilities, consider constructing the story on an 8 1/2" by 11" piece paper using single- or double-space format that resembles an essay.
4. Include any combination of descriptive, perspective, directive, or control sentences.
   According to Carol Gray, a good rule of thumb is 0-1 directives for 2-5 descriptive/perspective sentences
5. If needed, use pictures, photographs, or icons to aid comprehension.
6. Construct the social story out of materials appropriate for the child’s developmental level using cardboard, poster board, laminated pages, etc.
7. Provide an appropriate routine for the social story to be read.
8. If the student does not appear to be responding to the social story, adjust the content of the story and/or the student's access to the social story.
9. Fade the social story when the desired outcome is maintained and reintroduce if needed. Remember that some students may continue to rely on a social story for an extended period of time.

Now, let's see examples of social stories.