Social stories

Also called Social Stories, Social narratives, Carol Gray Social Stories

A short, personal, honest story that explains a situation before it happens: what will occur, who'll be there, and what people usually do.

What it is

A social story is a short piece of writing, usually with pictures, that describes a situation from the person's point of view: what happens, in what order, who's there, what they might be thinking, and what the person can do. "On Tuesday I'm going to the dentist. The dentist looks at teeth. I will sit in a big chair that moves. The dentist will ask me to open my mouth. It is OK to squeeze my squishy toy. Afterwards we will go home."

Carol Gray developed the approach in 1991, and the term Social Story is hers. Her version has a specific structure and a set of rules, which many home-made "social stories" don't follow, and it's worth knowing which kind you're looking at.

Who it can help

Autistic children and adults, mostly, and anyone who finds unfamiliar situations frightening because they can't picture them: people with a learning disability, some children with attachment difficulties, people facing a hospital visit. They work best for a reader, or someone who can follow a story read to them with pictures.

They don't work as a way of telling someone off, and Gray's rules are explicit about this: a story that's mostly "I should" and "I must" is a lecture with pictures. And they're not for PDA profiles in the standard form; the perceived demand in the story is often the problem.

How it works

A story is written for one person about one situation, in the first or third person, in the present or future tense, and it answers the who, what, where, when, why and how. Gray's guidance is that at least half the sentences are descriptive (what happens) or perspective (what others think and feel), and no more than half are directive (what I can try). The tone is patient and reassuring, never corrective.

The story is read several times before the event, calmly, not as a last-minute warning. It's read again afterwards. The pictures should be of the real place and people where possible.

Two things make them work: the person's own perspective is described accurately, and the story is true. A story that says the injection won't hurt teaches that stories lie.

Getting started

Pick one situation coming up this fortnight. Write six to ten sentences in the person's voice about what will happen and what they can do. Add photographs of the real place if you can get them.

Read it daily for a week beforehand, at a calm time, and keep it in the bag on the day.

If the person uses symbols, put the key ones in the story and on their device. A Talk board card for HELP or FINISHED, mentioned in the story, is a card they know how to find when they need it.

Where to get help

Carol Gray's own site sets out the current criteria and examples. The National Autistic Society explains social stories and comic strip conversations for parents and teachers. Ambitious about Autism supports families of autistic young people. Many NHS speech and language therapy and autism teams will help write a first story.