Social stories are one of the techniques that are used with children with Autism.
Although this is done in a structured way for children with Autism it is a technique that has been used for centuries.
Parents have always talked and described upcoming situations in an effort to ease their children's fears.
Many times social stories are written with the childs' name as the name of the person in the story.
For some children this seems to be an easier way to talk about themselves.
It is almost like talking about a child like they are someone else.
On some level a child with Autism does seem to understand that the story is about them.
A social story to describe future behavior will help a child with Autism calm their fears as well.
More importantly it can help shape their behavior.
The story does not have to be long or complex but it does need to show the child what a parent expects to happen and what a parent expects the child to do.
Many non-verbal children like to listen to stories.
One of the suggestions is to write the story.
Try to keep it to one page.
Read the story to your child and give a copy to them.
It may well surprise a parent that the non-verbal child wants a copy.
Keep in mind that we do not always know how much non-verbal children understand.
They may be able to read some or part of the story.
The only caution in this process is to be careful with children who eat paper.
Social stories can also be used to go over past behavior.
The twist with this type of social story is that you can change what your child did in the past in this new story.
Of course in this way you can supply information about behavior in a way the child can 'get it'.