How To Write Social Stories for Your Autistic Child & Why They Are Super Important

By Mark Hutten, M.A.

"What exactly is a social story, and how do you write an effective one for children with autism?"

A social story is a frequently used method to teach social skills to kids with ASD Level 1, or High-Functioning Autism. A social story is a non-coercive technique that presents social concepts and rules to kids in the form of a brief story. This method can be used to teach a number of social and behavioral concepts (e.g., making transitions, playing a game, going on a field trip, etc.).

There are four major components that are crucial to a successful social story. The story should:

be commensurate with the child’s ability and comprehension level
be something the youngster wants to read on his or her own
be written in response to the youngster’s personal needs
use less directive terms (e.g., “can” or “could”) rather than more directive terms (e.g., “will” or “must”).

Making sure the story has all four components is especially important for kids who tend to be oppositional (i.e., a youngster who doesn’t decide what to do until parents tells him/her to do something, then he/she does the opposite).

A social story can be paired with pictures and placed on a computer to take advantage of the youngster’s tendency towards visual instruction and interest in computers.

Kids with ASD seem to learn best when social stories are used in conjunction with role-playing and used as a social primer (i.e., after reading the social story, the youngster then practices the skill introduced in the story).

For example, immediately after reading a story about joining-in an activity with friends, the youngster would practice the skill. Then, after reading the story and practicing the skill, the youngster would be exposed to a social situation where he or she would have an opportunity to perform the skill.

There should be a specific pattern to a social story, which includes several descriptive, perspective, and directive sentences:

A descriptive sentence describes what people do in particular social situation, and defines where a situation occurs, who is involved, what others are doing – and why (e.g., “Sometimes at school, the fire alarm will go off. It is a loud bell that rings when there is a fire or when students are practicing leaving the building. The teachers help us to line up and go outside as fast as we can. The alarm is very loud so that all the students can hear it.”).
A perspective sentence describes people’s reactions to a situation so that the child can learn how they perceive various events. It describes the internal states of others (i.e., their thoughts, feelings and mood). For example, “The fire alarm may bother some students. Teachers don’t understand how much it bothers me. Sometimes the teacher gets upset if I do not move fast enough or get confused. Her job is to get me outside as soon as possible so I am safe in case there is a real fire.”
A directive sentence directs the child to an appropriate response. It states (in positive terms) what the desired behavior is (e.g., “A real fire is dangerous and can burn people. This is why it’s important for me to exit the building with the other students as quickly as possible, even though the alarm hurts my ears”).

So, this social story about fire alarms could read like this:

Sometimes at school, the fire alarm will go off. It is a loud bell that rings when there is a fire or when students are practicing leaving the building. The teachers help us to line up and go outside as fast as we can. The alarm is very loud so that all the students can hear it. It may bother some students. Teachers don’t understand how much it really startles me. Sometimes the teacher gets upset if I do not move fast enough or get confused. Her job is to get me outside as soon as possible so I am safe in case there is a real fire. A real fire is dangerous and can burn people. This is why it’s important for me to exit the building with the other students as quickly as possible, even though the alarm hurts my ears.

Resources for parents of children and teens on the autism spectrum: