Social Stories

Social Stories were created by Carol Gray.

The goal of a social story is to share accurate information clearly and safely.  It focuses on the underlying causes of frustration or misinformation that children feel due to them understanding the world in a different way to us. It should identify the cause of the misunderstanding and give information to the child in a much simpler and more visual way. The goal of a social story is NOT to change the child’s behaviour. It is to help the child understand the situation better and this often then leads to an improvement in behaviour.

Depending on your child’s level of understanding you might be able to use them as they are, or you may need to adapt them slightly to use words that are simpler or familiar to your child. This is fine.  You can also personalise them by adding additional text or characters that your child likes - we would NOT advise that you make the story significantly longer though as this may get confusing.

For more information, and how to present the story to your child, we would encourage you to watch The Social Stories film on our YouTube channel and the video by Carol Gray herself. Links below.

If you need help to rewrite/adapt a story or indeed tackle a topic not listed here please contact Shona MacPherson or Rachael Geddes Click Here

Example Social Stories

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Social Story Video Clips

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For more information, and how to present the story to your child, we would encourage you to watch the Social Stories film on our YouTube channel by clicking on the image below.

There is also a video clip by Carol Gray herself.

This film tells you what a social story is, and it will help you to create your own social story to help a young person.

Video Clip by Carol Gray

PCS and Boardmaker are trademarks of Tobii Dynavox LLC. All rights reserved. Used with permission.