Social Stories

Social stories - or “empathy stories” - are an easy and effective tool to promote emotional understanding, social abilities, life skills, just about any behavior. They can be as long, short, personal, general, creative, or simple as you like.

Over the years I’ve come up with my own formula for personal, easy-to-make social stories: One sheet of colored paper, some markers or crayons, and a few minutes to brainstorm what to draw and write. Be sure to validate current behavior and explain preferred actions. Simple extras include the child’s drawing and / or writing to increase their individual buy-in and promote visual-spatial processing, fine motor skills, alphabet knowledge, praxis, and sentence composition.

A dear friend recently asked me if I had any ideas to help her daughter express anger in more appropriate ways. At first I had no idea because my friend is a loving, dedicated mom and her daughter is a playful, smart child. They have all the right ingredients to learn through challenging situations; however, as my clinical brain started to turn I thought of my simple social stories and how families that review them regularly see positive improvement. After following my simple suggestion she reported “once my daughter was aware of appropriate behavior and what to do it changed both of our experiences.” Wow, incredible!

If the idea of making your own social story is overwhelming or there’s just too little time, try searching for ready-to-go templates on Teachers Pay Teachers or animated shorts on YouTube. There’s a huge library of social stories across platforms due to their effectiveness and individuality, and I can guarantee you’ll find something applicable to your situation somewhere. But if you’re like me and want colorful, specific social stories then just grab some paper and markers. You got this!