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Carol Gray: What are Social Stories(TM)?

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Videos can be used... but back up with visuals always accessible to the student

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Videos can be used... but back up with visuals always accessible to the student

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Frustration - Social Story for Special Education Students

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Download

The SOFA-app is free and can be downloaded (smartphone or tablet) from:

The SOFA-app has received a gold award for evidence-based practice.
Watch a video to find out how to download and use the SOFA-app
If you are a parent of an autistic child and would like training to use the SOFA-app as part of a research project, please watch this YouTube film for details of the project.

There are two modes you can operate, Adult and Child mode.

Adult mode

The adult mode is for writing the stories. You can adapt stories from a library or create your own. You can also add images from a library or add your own. You then set up a child prolife and assign the story to a child. If you have more than one child, each child has their own profile. The adult is asked to rate how close the child is to achieving the goal every time a story is accessed.

Child mode

The child mode is for reading the stories. The child can only access stories that have been assigned to them by the adult. The stories can be read by the child, by the adult, or by the app. The child is asked to rate how much they enjoyed the story every time the story is accessed.

You can also download a guide for writing stories.

The SOFA-app comes with a range of pre-written stories that you can use or adapt. You can also write your own stories. When you do this, you will be asked if you want them to be private (just for you) or public (shared with others). Shared stories will appear here as they become available.

There are four peer-reviewed journal articles that provide evidence for the SOFA-app. These articles show that autistic children achieve the goal that has been identified for the story. Undesirable behaviours are reduced and desirable behaviours are increased, in both frequency and intensity. In addition, the child's anxiety is reduced and the child's understanding of the situation is increased.

Articles

This article describes how autistic children (with and without intellectual disability) helped inform the design of the SOFA-app.

This article evidences that the SOFA-app is effective when compared with a control group who were read a poem.

This article evidences that the SOFA-app is effective when used by classroom teachers in schools.

This article evidences that the SOFA-app is effective in supporting autistic children adapt to the change of a going away to a school camp.

This article found that using the SOFA-app was felt to both empower mothers and enable self-determination for autistic children.

This article demonstrates the benefits to both parents and practitioners who use the SOFA-app with autistic children.

This article reviews the evidence for the effectiveness of socials stories.

As part of this research process, the SOFA-app collects data on how effective the stories are in helping autistic children achieve their goals. All data is securely stored in compliance with GDPR legislation.

By registering and submitting your personal details you consent to the University of Bath using your details for administering its database of stories and contributors for the purposes of this project, including managing your account (forgotten passwords etc).

Your personal data will not be made available publicly or disclosed to anyone else, and will not be used for any other purpose. You may request that your personal details are deleted, or change your consent for their use, at any time by writing to sofa-app@bath.ac.uk

Where you submit a story which you agree can be made public, you consent to the story being made available on our website www.sofa-app.org for the purposes of the project. Please ensure that no personal data, which could identify you or anyone else, is contained in the story.

We asked education professionals who had experience supporting autistic children to try the SOFA-app and tell us what they thought of it. Here's what they said.

'Innovative, simple, fun'

'A very engaging and accessible way to create or find ready made social stories for every situation'

'SOFA provides children on the spectrum with a multitude of fun stories to learn from'

'Practical, Engaging, Accessible'

'This app provides parent and educators with the possibility of creating social stories in an efficient and timely way'

'It is a very fun and efficient way to present social stories to children'

'SOFA app is a useful tool that will help parents or professionals working with individuals on the autism spectrum explain various situations, changes or any challenges being faced, in a fast and practical manner'

'SOFA is a great way to create social stories quickly and with ease!'

The Stories Online For Autism (SOFA) app was developed with support from EPIC and the Inspire Foundation (Malta). The project was first developed by the Centre for Applied Autism Research (CAAR) and was funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The project represents an interdisciplinary collaboration between the departments of Psychology and Computer Science at the University of Bath (UK). The researchers were Mark Brosnan, Hilary Johnson, Elizabeth Smith and Aurora Constantin. The SOFA-app was co-designed with the autism community.

Watch a film of the launch event for SOFA-app and read the press release about SOFA-app.

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Download and get started with the Stories Online For Autism (SOFA) app

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The SOFA-app is free and can be downloaded (smartphone or tablet) from: The SOFA-app has received a gold award for evidence-based practice. Watch a video to find out how to download and use the SOFA-app If you are a parent of an autistic child and would like training to use the SOFA-app as part of a research project, please watch this YouTube film for details of the project.

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a word of warning with this resource - there is an example of a Making Eye Contact SS - we don't currently like to teach our Autistic YP to do this... to conform to neurotypicality, as it can be a huge stressor for them and doesn't accept their neurodivergence. (It prioritises people pleasing above lowering the anxiety of Autistic people.)

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a word of warning with this resource - there is an example of a Making Eye Contact SS - we don't currently like to teach our Autistic YP to do this... to conform to neurotypicality, as it can be a huge stressor for them and doesn't accept their neurodivergence. (It prioritises people pleasing above lowering the anxiety of Autistic people.)

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Settling back into school - using social scripts

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how to write effective social stories Social_20stories_20SC228

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Need a holiday social story about Christmas to explain presents, Santa, or the holidays in general to your kids? Then you'll love these free Christmas social stories.

Like Halloween, Christmas can be an extremely overwhelming holiday for many kids, autism or not.

There are changes in routines to start with. Then there's the parties and the concerts and the Christmas activities. The blinking lights everywhere. The same Christmas tunes on repeat everywhere you turn. Santa Clauses ringing bells outside store doors. And so on.

It's also one of those holidays that never seems to end. You start to see signs of the Christmas holiday season in stores as early as September, when Halloween and Christmas decorations start to take up the same shelves. Then before Halloween's even done, you find yourself humming Christmas tunes while browsing aisles at Costco even though Christmas is many weeks away.

Now, there are lots of different things you can do to help reduce the sensory overwhelm that comes along with Christmas and prepare your child for the holidays. For instance, you can use one of these free Christmas social stories to talk about Santa, opening presents, concerts, and more.
This collection of Christmas and holiday social stories was last updated on November 4, 2022. New stories were added (including video ones), dead links were removed, and more details were provided to make sure you can find what you need quicker.
Free Printable Holiday and Christmas Social Stories for Kids

If you've been looking for a social story about Christmas or a simple holiday social story, then look no further than this list. Some of the stories below do require you to have a Teachers Pay Teachers account (which is free!) before you can download them.

I've rounded up a few different options for you to explore. That way you can (hopefully!) find a Christmas social story that's a good fit for you and your child. Or you can always use ideas from a few of the different stories below to write your own custom story ( free social story templates here to help).

Please note that just because a social story is listed here does not mean I endorse its content. After all, many social stories tend to be poorly written and/or teach autistic masking. Besides, I haven't read all of these stories word for word myself. So please read through the stories carefully before using them with your child.

1. Seeing Santa Social Story - Written by yours truly, this social story about visiting Santa is incredibly detailed and uses full color photos.

2. Receiving Gifts Social Scripts - Okay, it's not technically a social story, but I think it's important to include this little book of things to say when receiving gifts on this list of holiday social stories.

3. Christmas Social Story from Little Puddins - A surprisingly detailed social story considering how few pages there are. It uses bright colorful clipart.

4. 4 Social Stories for Christmas from Positively Autism - You'll find four social stories on the following topics: what to expect at Christmas, getting presents, going to visit Santa, and visiting family at Christmas. One of the stories also comes in PowerPoint format so you can edit and customize it however you'd like.

5. Social Story about Santa from Little Puddins - This social story uses bright colorful clipart and describes who Santa is and what his role is, if that's your thing.

6. Seeing Santa Social Story from The Deane's List on Teachers Pay Teachers - This social story rhymes, which is fun and different. It also appears to feature lots of diversity in the clip art, which is always appreciated.

7. Social Story About Being in a Christmas/Holiday Concert from Kara Johnson on Teachers Pay Teachers - A short story about participating in Christmas or holiday concerts.

8. Presents Social Story from Exceptional Resources for Special Needs on Teachers Pay Teachers - This social story talks about our reactions when we receive gifts that we may or may not like at Christmas.

9. Thank You for the Present Social Story from Fabulous Room 6 on Teachers Pay Teachers - This story looks like it might not be super great, judging by the preview, but it may still work for your needs.

10. Christmas Day Social Story from The Autism Page - A simple one page social story about Christmas Day. You'll also find some other visuals available here too.

11. Christmas Party at School Stories from Sped and Sprinkles on Teachers Pay Teachers - There are two versions of this one page social story available, one is quite simple and the other more detailed. It also comes in color or black and white.

12. Christmas Break Social Story from Ish Mom - A simple one page story that outlines how you will spend the Christmas break. It includes a blank one that you can simply fill in, which is nice.

13. Santa Social Stories from Happy Learners - There are two text only social stories here. One is about believing in Santa and one is called Is Santa Real?

Video Social Stories About Christmas for Kids

Here are a few video social stories that discuss various Christmas social scenarios. You can use these videos in teletherapy sessions, social skills groups, and/or classroom settings. Videos are always a great alternative to printing off a story.

Like the stories above though, some of the wording in these videos might not be that great. But considering it's surprisingly difficult to find good video social stories about Christmas, I wanted to make sure you had some options.

The first video below is specific to visiting Santa at the library and receiving a gift after. That's probably not a super common experience for many, but I'm sure you could easily adapt this story and make one that better fits your needs. The other videos, on the other hand, apply more broadly.

Preparing a child for the upcoming holiday season doesn't need to be too complicated. Thankfully these Christmas social stories can help you get started.

Married to her high school sweetheart, Dyan is a Canadian stay-at-home mom to two boys, J and K. When she's not writing about hyperlexia and autism, you can find her teaching piano, kicking her kids' butts at Mario Kart, playing a board game, or binge reading yet another book or research paper.

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Need a holiday social story about Christmas to explain presents, Santa, or the holidays in general to your kids? Then you'll love these free Christmas social stories. Like Halloween, Christmas can be an extremely overwhelming holiday for many kids, autism or not. There are changes in routines to start with.

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At the moment there are four books in the 'Growing Up with Social Stories' series by Siobhan. The first book 'Successful Social Stories for Young Children' was published in August 2016. 'Successful Social Stories for School and College Students with Autism' followed in 2017 along with 'Developing Resilience in Young People with Autism using Social Stories'.

The most recent book in the series 'Successful Social Articles into Adulthood' was published in August 2018. The series of four books are published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Click on the links below to find out more information about each book.

Original photo by Alfons Morales found on the excellent Unsplash

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At the moment there are four books in the 'Growing Up with Social Stories' series by Siobhan. The first book 'Successful Social Stories for Young Children' was published in August 2016. 'Successful Social Stories for School and College Students with Autism' followed in 2017 along with 'Developing Resilience in Young People with Autism using Social ...