Individuals who have pervasive developmental disorders including Asperger’s syndrome and autism have great difficulty navigating through social situations. Sometimes the problem lies in the unexpected occurrences while other times it is a matter of communication problems. Social stories help individuals with conditions like autism build expectations when dealing with new and unusual situations.
Many of the social stories can be used to help a person deal with everyday activities as well. These stories function as scripts that are rehearsed ahead of time. Each is designed to help the individual with common transitional problems as well as unexpected communication hurdles that he may have to cross.
The benefit of using this kind of approach is that it helps the individual build trust as well as a sense of safety. When the person knows what to expect in any given situation he is better equipped to handle it. The social stories also help the person develop a dialogue to make communication flow a lot smoother.
The social stories can also help an individual who has autism process other people’s emotions and attempts at communication as well. One of the biggest problems with autistic disorder and conditions like Asperger’s syndrome is that the person does not know how to interpret other people’s emotions or figurative language.
Social stories can be used to help someone understand different emotions that commonly occur during a specific situation. For example، a child may not want to get in line for classroom transitions. The teacher can use social stories to help the child understand what to expect during the stressful transition. The story can also communicate how happy the teacher is when the child follows through with directions.
Once the child has rehearsed the script he has built up expectations in his mind. These expectations help him make smooth transitions between activities because he is not stressed out about what is going to happen. The social stories also give him a means of communication as well.
Knowing that other people are happy and relaxed will also help the child understand that the transition is not a negative thing. He may have difficulty processing facial expressions and another person’s tone of voice but if he knows that the other people around him are pleased then he can feel a little more relaxed. Sometimes it takes social stories in order for the child to understand what is going on around him.
