Studies prove that autism social stories that have been written following a specific format do make a difference in helping people with autism learn social and communication skills and behaviors.

Researches carried out into the affects of social stories show that social stories help overcome the hurdles many autistic children face with their lack of "theory of mind." 

The theory of mind is the ability to understand that other people do see, feel, and react differently to you, which is a major issue for autistic children.

What is a social skills story?

A social story is a short descriptive piece of text (story) that has been written in a specific style and format, with all the frills removed and clear focus directed towards the main points (social cues) . The social skills story describes what happens in a specific social situation and presents information in a structured and consistent manner.

The main goal of a social skills story is to provide the autistic child with information through visual images and text, with each story providing concise and accurate information about what is happening in a specific social situation. 

The autism stocial story describes what people do, why they do it, and what the common responses are; which will help make the autistic child feel more relaxed and comfortable in and with the situation.

For example a typical situation before autistic social stories:

Your son is due to visit the dentist for a regular check up.  You know what will happen because it has happened before.  There will be fighting and screaming.  He will be overwhelmed, over-stimulated, and under-prepared no matter how much you explain to him.  You will feel embarrassed, guilty, and helpless.

The same typical situation but this time using autistic social stories:

Your son is due to visit the dentist for a regular check up.   You explain to him what will happen, but this time, you read him the autistic social story about him visiting the dentist for a regular check up.  He sees, with visual pictures, a step by step plan of what will happen, making a less common event more predictable and routine.

During the check up, your son starts to feel agitated and uncomfortable, but now, you are armed with the very same autistic social story you read earlier.  You can review during the actual event, comforting and calming your child.

As you can see from the example autistic social story above on ~ how do social stories work?

The autism social story works by giving your autistic child a clear focus and a step by step plan for the skill, situation, event and behavior which can be read, before, during and after, helping them stay calm and focused.

Social stories can be used for almost all social, communication; imagination and interaction skills your autistic child may struggle with, from common skills like tooth brushing, answering the telephone or even shopping to the less common life events like a birth, wedding, party, celebrations even moving school or house, in fact most things can be handled using autism social stories.

Easy to use, always written in the first person, visually rich with appropriate language social stories can benefit all children with autism spectrum disorder. To learn more about social stories and how they can benefit your child visit:

http://www.autismsocialstories.co.uk

Other sites offering social stories for children with autism spectrum disorder can be found at:

http://www.insideautisticminds.com