I am now two weeks into my new job as a Paediatric OT and I
am absolutely loving it. I am blessed to be working with a really knowledgeable
and friendly therapy team who have made me so welcome.
It’s been really interesting getting to know some of the
children I will be working with as well as attending some really fascinating
training sessions. I’m really excited about how I am going to be able to
develop as an OT in this field.
One of the most interesting areas I have started learning
more about is Sensory integration. Sensory integration which, in simple terms,
is how a person’s brain is able to register the information provided by their
senses within the body and from the external environment. It’s an absolutely captivating
area of work which I am keen to get started working in. I’m hoping to dedicate
some blog posts to some of the different areas of SI so keep your eyes pealed!
For today however I have decided to talk a little bit about
Social Stories. I had never encountered these before and have soon come to
realise how fundamental and effective they are when working with people with
Autism and ASD.
In
1991 Social stories were created by an ASD teacher named Carol Gray to help
teach social skills to people with Autism.
Social Stories are short descriptions of a particular situation, event
or activity, which include specific information about what the individual can
expect in that situation and why.
The
stories are often written simplistically with either symbols or photographs
above each word in the sentence. They allow individuals to learn about the
different levels of communication within a conversation or situation. Individuals
with Autism find social situation difficult and struggle with developing and appropriate
social skills, this includes understanding others feelings, reasons why certain
things happen – abstract ideas etc.
The
different levels of communication which Social Stories help explain include the
following:
·
The things which were actually said in a
situation.
·
How others in the situation felt.
·
What will happen in a certain situation and why.
·
What people’s intentions may be.
At work we use Social Stories for a variety of reasons, some
of which I have listed below:
·
To help a student cope
with changes to their routine whether this is an absence of a teacher, a change
to an activity or moving to a different living group.
·
To help a student to
understand how others might behave or respond in a particular situation, and
therefore how they might be expected to behave
·
As a behavioural strategy, for example what to
do when angry or upset.
·
To help the student develop with self-care
skills (eg. Importance of washing their hands, getting dressed etc.)
Why are Social
Stories effective for people with Autism?
·
Many people with autism
are good at visual learning, and like social stories because they're written
down. Social stories are also often created using symbols and photographs as
well as simple words so they are accessible for individuals whether they are
verbal or non-verbal.
·
Social stories present
information in a literal, 'concrete' way, which may improve a person's
understanding of a previously difficult or ambiguous situation or activity.
·
Social stories can help
with sequencing (what comes next in a series of activities) and 'executive
functioning' (planning and organising) - difficulties experienced by many
people with autism.
·
By providing information
about what might happen in a particular situation and some guidelines for
behaviour, you can increase structure in a person's life and thereby reduce
anxiety.
There are some really good examples of Social Stories on the
website link below:
It would be interesting to know if anyone uses or has any
experience of using social stories. Please comment in the box below this post
if you do!
Thank you for taking the time to read my latest post,
Kate :)
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