Author: AccessAbility Smyles

Looking at Social Stories today and how to make them using ICT.

The preferred method is one sentence with picture per page.

Social stories are used with people on the autism spectrum for interpersonal communication and the introduction of  new events or situations that may be difficult to cope with. It can also be used to look at alternative responses by looking at different outcomes.

There are seven different sentence types to use in a social story:-

• Descriptive sentences: are truthful and observable sentences (opinion- and assumption-free) that identify the most relevant factors in a social situation. They often answer “why” questions. eg “If you upset people you will not make friends”
• Perspective sentences: refer to or describe the internal state of other people (their knowledge/thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, motivation or physical condition) so that the individual can learn how others’ perceive various events. eg ” Other people get angry when you diss them”
• Directive sentences: presents or suggests, in positive terms, a response or choice of responses to a situation or concept. eg ” Go out and make friends”
• Affirmative sentences: enhances the meaning of statements and may express a commonly shared value or opinion. They can also stress the important points, refer to a law or rule to reassure the learner. eg  “Migrant workers are not taking our jobs as they work in jobs people in the UK don’t want to do.”
• Control sentences: identifies personal strategies the individual will use to recall and apply information. They are written by the individual after reviewing the Social Story. eg ” If you are feeling anxious draw a level of anxiety on a glass – half full, 25% , 75% or 100%
• Cooperative sentences: describe what others will do to assist the individual. This helps to ensure consistent responses by a variety of people. eg ” <name> will help you to budget for the week.”
• Partial sentences: encourages the individual to make guesses regarding the next step in a situation, the response of another individual, or his/her own response. Any of the above sentences can be written as a partial sentence with a portion of the sentence being a blank space to complete. eg ” After pressing the electronic checkout at the supermarket the next step is to scan the item”
• Social Story ratio: Two to five cooperative, descriptive, perspective, and/or affirmative sentences for every directive or control sentence. eg “When thinking about going to work you need to  get ready for work by looking tidy , wearing uniform(is appropriate) and breath deeply to avoid becoming anxious”

Making Social Stories in PowerPoint

1. Decide which template below would suit your chosen social story
2. Click on it to load it up
3. Write a short phrase or sentence ( see above different types of sentences to use)
4. Make sure you click outside the text box or else the next step will not work
5. Add a picture online or one from your own library of images
6. Repeat for the next slides until all are used
7. You can always add a slide keeping the same layout – one sentence, one picture method
8. Now you can either print out the slides or run through it with your client prior to an event or when you have 1:1 time to prepare your client

Social Stories Templates

Social Story 4 Template

Social Story 6 Template

Social Story 8 Template

Social Story 12 Template

Social Stories Examples – ideas to get your started!

Social Story 4 Template – Going out

social-story-8-template friends

Social Story 12 Template – Approaching strangers 

Other subjects could be:-

• Dealing with bullying
• Dealing with swearing
• Relationships
• Handling money