Social Stories

Carol Grey developed social stories to help individuals with an autism spectrum disorder navigate through social situations. The social stories work in a number of ways to make some experiences less stressful for the individual. They are specifically designed to help the individual recognize social cues as well as what to expect in the situation. The social story is written from the student's perspective to help him internalize the words. It also helps the student recognize other people's emotions as well. The structure of social stories involves four types of sentences: descriptive, perspective, directive and control sentences. The descriptive sentences provide information about where and when the activity will take place as well as who will be involved. For example, "Sometimes I want to say something to my teacher when I am in class." The perspective sentences in social stories helps the individual recognize emotions and thoughts that others might have during the activity. For example, "My teacher is happy when I raise my hand before talking." The directive sentences help the student understand what is expected of him. For example, "When I want to say something, I raise my hand." Finally, the control sentence is one that the student can write himself. This sentence is not used in all social stories but it is helpful in making the story memorable to the student.