Why should I do it?
- Helps teach students routines, expectations, and behavioral standards in an alternative way
- Reinforces correct behavior
- Information presented in a story format
- Provides visual examples of behavior expectations
- Provides a more personalized and tailored behavioral intervention
- Helps involve students in the learning process
- Works well with students on the autism spectrum and those with ADD/ADHD
When should I do it?
- When a student fails to grasp social norms, routines, and expectations, like walking down the hall, using restroom facilities, following lunch procedure, using manners, using greetings, asking for help properly, etc
- When a student is on the autism spectrum or has ADD/ADHD
- When a student is disorganized, unprepared, disheveled
- When a student needs reinforcement of class rules, routines, procedures, etc
- When a student lacks social skills
- When a student does not respond to cues, redirection, refocusing, etc
- When a student fails to complete work, homework, expectations, etc
How do I do it?
- You can either look for a pre-made social story in the resources below or create your own using the resources below or you can take one from the resources and adapt it to your needs
- Ask your Resource Room teacher for assistance if you need help creating a social story or getting it started
- Basic steps to creating a social story:
- Create a list or outline of the steps in the routine or procedure the student needs work or reinforcement on, like behavior in the hall, using the bathroom, starting work, asking for help, etc
- For each step of the process, develop a simple sentence to explain the step, for example “open your desk and get your book out”, or “walk to the door and knock”, etc
- Next to each step and sentence, utilize a picture to represent the action, either a generic image or graphic, or an actual picture of the student performing that step
- When the social story is complete, review it with the student daily before they perform that routine, procedure, or activity
- After the student learns the social story well, have them review it on their own before they perform that routine, procedure, or activity
- You may slowly wean the student off the social story as they consistently perform the task correctly
Resources:
-
- Carol Gray created social stories, a “must see” website
- A collection of social stories are provided that can be adapted for your student/child
- Various Free Social Stories:
- http://www.autism4teachers.com/autism4teachers_013.htm
- http://www.fcps.edu/ss/its/howtos/socstor/socstories.htm
- http://www.freewebs.com/kidscandream/page13.htm
- http://www.slatersoftware.com/document.html
- http://www.thewatsoninstitute.org/teacher-resources2.jsp?pageId=2161392240601226415747290
- http://www.speakingofspeech.com/Social_Skills_Pragmatics.html
- http://www.ccsd.edu/LittleTor.cfm?subpage=5804
- http://www.region2library.org/socialstories.htm
- http://kansasasd.com/node/9
- http://rsaffran.tripod.com/social.html
- http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/District75/Departments/Literacy/AdaptedBooks/default.htm
- http://www.autism-pdd.net/testdump/test14154.htm (tons of social stories)
- http://www.adders.org/socialstories.htm
- mhtml:http://www.autismcommunityconnection.com/files/ACC_social_skills.mht#social_stories
- http://www.polyxo.com/socialstories/
- http://portal.esc20.net/portal/page/portal/esc20public/SpecialEducation/autism/socialstories
- http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/examples-of-autism-social-stories.html
- http://www.autismhelp.info/htm/printfiles_index.htm
- Holiday Social Stories
- List of Social Story Resources
- The Social Story Book with over 150 social stories
- Social Story Images & Graphics You Can Assemble In Sequence
- Social Stories Creator Program: Picto Selector
- Simple Word Stories That Can Be Customized By Filling In Student’s Name & Other Info, etc
- How To Make A Social Story
- Free Story Builder Program
- How To Make A Social Story Fact Sheet
- Conversation Starters 1, Conversation Starters 2, Conversation Starters 3, Conversation Starters 4, Conversation Starters 5
- http://www.tooter4kids.com/Friendship/Index.htm (friendship)
- http://www.tooter4kids.com/bullying.htm (bullying)
- Personal & Hygiene Social Stories
- Tips For Writing Scripted Stories For Social Situations
- Social & Scripted Stories
- Hygiene Social Story.pdf
- Lunchroom
- Social Story Maker Program
- Let’s Keep Our Hands Clean & Healthy
- Free Pictures, Graphics, & Symbols For Social Stories:
- http://www.dotolearn.com/picturecards/printcards/index.htm
- http://www.english-4kids.com/flashcards.html
- http://www.usevisualstrategies.com/AutismVisualPrintablePictures.aspx
- http://www.sxc.hu/
- http://www.free-graphics.com/
- http://www.freegraphics.org/
- http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/
- Google Image Search
- http://www.setbc.org/pictureset/
- http://www.supersimplesongs.com/freeflashcards.html
- http://www.eslflashcards.com/
- http://www.freereading.net/index.php?title=Picture_cards
- www.deviantart.com/
- http://www.iconbazaar.com/index.html
- Picto Selector Free Communication Picture Exchange Program
- http://www.teachchildrenesl.com/flashcards.htm
- http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/toys-theme.html
- http://www.angelfire.com/pa5/as/socialskills/conversationpictures.pdf
- Picture word cards & More
- Pecs Pictures, Graphics, & More:
- Pecs Pictures Page Five (answer phone, blow, blow bubbles, don’t walk, walk, dot to dot, cut hair, don’t pick nose,wait, go potty, wipe bottom)
- Pecs Pictures Page Six (backpack, school, no school, play dress up – boy, play dress up-girl, lunch time, time out-girl, time out- boy, etch a sketch, dump truck)
- Pecs Pictures Page Seven (art, paint, crayon, markers, paintbrush, paints, paints, computer, scissors, play doh, line up, write)
- Pecs Pictures Page Eight (potty, put back, playground, bye, hi, foot, hair, hand, leg, mouth, nose, toes)
- Pecs Pictures Page Nine (tongue, arm, quiet, play, puzzle, book, sit on floor, hold hands, play game, diaper, pool, sandbox)
- Pecs Pictures Page Ten (beads, haircut, tickle, cut nails, throw away, go night night, socks, shoes, pants, hat, put on pants, put on shirt)
- Pecs Pictures Page Eleven (shirt, underpants, bath, letters, shapes, blocks, circle, diamond, heart, triangle, star, rectangle)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twelve (oval, square, count, black, blue, brown, gold, gray, green, orange, pink, purple)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirteen (red, yellow, white, black, blue, brown, gold, gray, green, orange, pink,purple)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fourteen (three are icons the rest is the start of imported “real” photographs) (red, yellow, white, broom, comb, phone, remote, bike, potty, dentist, couch,c ouch,)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty- eight (Icons for nursery rhyme songs-bingo,wheels on the bus, hey diddle diddle, baa baa black sheep, twinkle twinkle, humpty dumpty, hickory dickory dock,where is thumbkin?, ants go marching, if you’re happy, old mcdonald, pat-a-cake)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty-nine (Icons for nursery rhyme songs- london bridges, I’m a little teapot, incey wincey spider, row row row your boat, mary had a little lamb, jack and jill went up the hill)
- Pecs Pictures Grocery Shopping List (about 70 pictures of common foods/items to put on a picture grocery shopping list, let me know more specifics to add!)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifteen (start of food items) (soccer, basketball, bowling, baseball, school bus, line up, jellybeans, pretzel, popcorn, french fries, broccoli, sandwich)
- Pecs Pictures Page Sixteen (food) (orange, pear, grapes, strawberry, apple, bananas, watermelon, pickle, potato, shopping, chinese food, pizza)
- Pecs Pictures Page Seventeen (food) (eggs, taco, cupcake, doughnut, bread, butter, pancakes, tater tots, corn dog, cupcake, hamburger, hot dog)
- Pecs Pictures Page Eighteen (food, a few name brands) (celery, bagel, corn, hot dog, hamburger, salad, spaghetti, vlasic pickles, claussen pickles, grape jam, skippy peanut butter, jiff peanut butter)
- Pecs Pictures Page Nineteen (food) (melon, taco, olive, cereal, chips, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, cookie, popcorn, carrots, salt, salt and pepper)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty (name brand food items) (frenches mustard, campbells soup, chocolate milk, cookies, pringles, hersey’s, oreo, miracle whip, draft mayonaise, hunts ketchup, heinz ketchup, hellmans mayonaise)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-One (name brand food and drink) (frenches mustard, musslemans applesauce, coke, pepsi, cherry 7-up, gatorade, squeezit, 7-up, kool-aid burst, sprite, aunt jemima waffles, eggo waffles,)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-Two (name brand crackers) (chicken tenders, corn on the cob, bugles, teddy grahams, honey maid graham cracker, keebler graham cracker, cheese nips, town house crackers, ritz crackers, club crackers, cheez-it, hi ho crackers)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-Three (name brand frozen foods) (tomstone pizza, freschetta pizza, tonys pizza, red baron pizza, mrs. pauls fish sticks, gortons fish sticks, van de kamps fish sticks, french fries, tator tots, green giant frozen peas, green giant frozen corn, green giant niblets corn on the cob)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-Four (name brand cereals) (premium saltine crackers, lucky charms, french toast crunch, kix, cocoa pebbles, post raisin brain, kellogs frosted flakes, fruit loops, cheerios, cinnamon toast crunch, apple jacks, trix)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-Five (name brand cereals and breakfast foods) (cocoa krispies, cookie crisp, rice krispies, kellogs smacks, cocoa puffs, nilla wafers, keebler vanilla wafers, nutri grain bars, kudos, pop tarts, nature valley granola bars, keebler animal crackers )
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-Six (candy) (snickers, plain m&m’s, peanut m&m’s, milky way, fruit roll ups, fruit gushers, chips ahoy cookies, string thing, nutter butter cookies, chips deluxe cookies, fig newtons, trix fruit candy )
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-Seven (candy,baked beans,yogurt,tuna) (twix, 3 musketeers, colombo yogurt, dannon yogurt, bushs baked beans, b&m baked beans, van camps beans, chicken of the sea tuna fish, star kist tuna fish, green giant canned corn, green giant canned peas)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-Eight (appliances) (stove, microwave, tv, vcr, vacuum)
- Pecs Pictures Page Twenty-Nine (computers, objects) (computer, clock, stapler, hole punch, umbrella, chair, kleenex, ball, camera)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty (objects, places to go) (paints, paintbrush, tape, presents, toaster, can opener, money, church, library, post office, gas station, park)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-One (name brand food hot dogs , bacon, mac and cheese etc) (oscar mayer hot dogs, ball park hot dogs, hormel bacon, hungry jack waffle, fritos, oscar mayer bacon, ragu spaghetti sauce, kraft macaroni and cheese, pringles, rold gold pretzels, tostitos hersey’s chocolate bar)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-Two (koolaid,jello photos. Places to eat icons) (kool-aid, jell-o, arby’s, burger king, dairy queen, domino’s pizza, hardee’s, macdonalds, kentucky fried chicken, wendy’s, pizza hut)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-Three (places to eat) (taco bell, k mart, wal mart, chilis, applebee’s, arby’s, burger king, boston market, blimpie, denny’s, dunkin donuts, fazoli’s)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-Four (places to eat) (del taco, krispy kreme, hardee’s, taco bell, red lobster, olive garden, dairy queen, papa johns, chick-fil-a, pizza hut, churchs chicken, domino’s pizza)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-Five (places to eat) (kentucky fried chicken, papa johns, perkins, cracker barrel, mcdonald’s, chi-chi’s)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-Six (twelve covers for barney videos)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-Seven (videos – 3 more barney covers, green eggs and ham, cat in the hat, grinch that stole christmas, dr. seuss abc, 2 blues clues videos, veggie tales, teletubbies and a sesame street counting video)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-Eight (videos – 6 covers for thomas the tank engine, 3 covers for winnie pooh, 2 more blue’s clues)
- Pecs Pictures Page Thirty-Nine (videos – 2 more thomas the tank engine, pinocchio, pocahontas, cinderella, sleeping beauty, aladdin, little mermaid, dumbo, pete’s dragon, robin hood, mulan)
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty (videos – snow white, bug’s life, mary poppins, wizard of oz, toy story, 101 dalmations, lion king, peter pan, simba’s pride, hercules, rescuers, sword in the stone)
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-One (videos- quest for camelot, jungle book, games – hungry hungry hippos, candyland, cootie, hi ho cherry-o, bed bugs, farm families, go fish, oreo matching, fisher price farm, fisher price garage)
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-Two (games – lucky ducks, guess who, octopus dominoes, don’t wake daddy, operation, disney memory, barney memory, chicken limbo, lingo bingo, kids on stage, original memory, letter detective))
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-Three (games – mr. potato head, roll over rover, boggle jr., alphapets, best number game ever, timing it right, rivers roads & rails, pooh memory, letter detective, )
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-Four (“positions” – beside, between, in front, behind, out, in, on, off, up, down, under, over)
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-Five (“actions” – slide, stand up, sit down, swing, tie, roll, run, kiss, wave, drink, eat, sleep)
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-Six (“actions” – blow, pour, read, kick, jump, clap,)
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-Seven (actions/activities – kick ball, play soccer, slide, go sledding, sled, run, sleep, go night night, paint, play dollhouse, ride bike, ride bike)
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-Eight (actions/activities – swim, play water, baseball, softball, trampoline, jump, jump on tramp, circle time, sit in circle, floor time)
- Pecs Pictures Page Forty-Nine (objects – wagon, toilet paper, remote control, tv control, garbage, stroller, flashlight, keys, timer, fish, mailbox, dice)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty (objects – toaster, bandaid, stool, hanger, cut, light, broom, toothpaste, dirty clothes, clothes basket, feed dog, dog water)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty-One (Holidays – special day, holidays, birthday, valentines day, st. patricks day, halloween, thanksgiving, easter, fathers day, mothers day)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty-Two (Kids school activities – nap time, rest time, quiet time, paint, story time, lunch, draw, color, puzzle, blocks, read book, tie shoe)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty-Three (Kids school activities – computer, jump rope, soccer, kick ball, ride bus,go home, go school, line up)
- Pecs Pictures Page Sixty (cheetos, bugles, sun chips, goldfish, crinkle fries, potato chips, ore ida tator tots, bbq potato chips, microwave popcorn, klondike bar, sundae crunch bar, popcorn)
- Pecs Pictures Page Sixty-One (hamburger helper, pasta salad, lipton noodles, pasta roni, suddenly salad, tuna helper, rice roni, beef ravioli, spaghetti and meatballs, manwich, sloppy joe, sunflower seeds)
- Pecs Pictures Page Sixty-Two (taco shells, refried beans, chili cheese dip, salsa, fritos, lunchables nachos, string cheese, taco cheese)
- Pecs Pictures Page Sixty-Three (black olives, snow cone, cotton candy, coffee, coffee pot, coffee maker, lunch tray)
- Pecs Pictures Page Sixty-Four (traffic lights, school crossing guard, roller blades, play cards, potty chair, shot, life jacket, birthday cake)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty-Four (more, help, make, open, need, play, put, rub, try, work, want, close)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty-Five (do, don’t, don’t, come, don’t like, don’t want, finished, I need help, get, please, I want, what’s that?)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty-Six (can I?, slow, my, all done, all gone, fast, no way, helper, I want to watch, let’s go home, trampoline, parachute game)
- Pecs Pictures Page Fifty-Seven (now, bedtime, snack time, breakfast time, lunch time, dinner time, when, never, break time, it’s time, circle time, time out)