Revealing the Hidden Social Code: Social Stories (TM) for People with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Marie Howley, Eileen Arnold

Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Jun 29, 2005 - Education - 160 pages

The Social Stories(TM) approach is widely acknowledged as a key technique for teaching social and life skills to children with autistic spectrum disorders. This text, endorsed by the originator of Social Stories(TM), Carol Gray, offers clear and comprehensive guidance for professionals, parents and carers on how to write successful and targeted Social Stories(TM) that will help develop the autistic spectrum child's understanding of social interaction.

The book outlines the kinds of social challenges that people with ASD may experience and highlights the importance of learning social skills in meaningful contexts. An extended review of the guidelines for writing Social Stories(TM) will help writers to structure and develop their stories. The authors explain the key elements and highlight the potential difficulties that a writer may encounter, while providing encouragement and guidance through the various stages of what is often a challenging process. They include examples from their own professional experience, and suggest ways in which the Social Stories(TM) approach may enhance other strategies. Helpful advice on presentation and implementation is provided.

Revealing the Hidden Social Code is essential reading for any professional, parent, carer or teacher wanting to employ Social Stories(TM) to develop social understanding in people with ASDs.

Contents

• 1 Introduction and Rationale for Social Stories: 13
• Gathering Information: 29
• Descriptive Perspective and Directive Sentences: 45
• 4 Advanced Social Stories: 59
• 5 Presenting Implementing and Monitoring: 79
• 6 Introductory Social Stories and Complementary Strategies: 101
• 7 Problem Solving and What to Do When Social Stories Do Not Work: 127
• Final Thoughts: 145
• Checklist for drafting a Social Story: 146
• Checklist for monitoring individual progress: 147
• Checklist for problem solving: 148
• Social Story checklist: 149
• References: 151
• Subject Index: 156
• Author Index: 160

Popular passages

Page 2 - Playing, Laughing and Learning with Children on the Autism Spectrum A Practical Resource of Play Ideas for Parents and Carers Julia Moor ISBN...

Page 21 - I THINK IN PICTURES. Words are like a second language to me. I translate both spoken and written words into full-color movies, complete with sound, which run like a VCR tape in my head. When somebody speaks to me, his words are instantly translated into pictures. Language-based thinkers often find this phenomenon difficult to understand, but in my job as an equipment designer for the livestock industry, visual thinking is a tremendous advantage.

Page 15 - Thus, although descriptions of social competence differ somewhat from study to study, there is overall agreement that the essence of social behavior consists of the ability to relate to others in a mutually reinforcing and reciprocal fashion and to adapt social skills to the varying demands of interpersonal contexts.

Page 13 - If pupils are to work with others they must develop social skills and a growing awareness and understanding of others

Page 18 - She states that: the goal of a Social Story is to share relevant information. This information includes (but is not limited to) where and when a situation takes place, who is involved, what is occurring, and why. (Gray...

Page 20 - hidden code'. Social understanding depends on an understanding of explicit and implicit social rules that govern everyday social encounters. It requires an ability to make decisions about the social skills we have in terms of when and where to use them.

About the author

Marie Howley is a senior lecturer with the Centre for Special Needs Education and Research (SESNER) team at University College Northampton. She has extensive experience as a specialist teacher working with children and adults with autistic spectrum disorders and has co-authored many books, including Accessing the Curriculum for Pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Eileen Arnold is a former specialist speech and language therapist. She has extensive practice of using Social StoriesTM in a wide range of settings and has worked closely with Carol Gray. She is currently consultant to, and lectures and presents for the Northamptonshire Society for Autism.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Revealing the Hidden Social Code: Social Stories (TM) for People with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
• Authors: Marie Howley, Eileen Arnold
• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2005
• ISBN: 184642142X, 9781846421426
• Length: 160 pages
• Subjects: Education / Educational Psychology; Education / Special Education / Behavioral, Emotional & Social Disabilities; Education / Special Education / Communicative Disorders; Education / Special Education / General