On writing your own social stories

Many parents of children with autism are already familiar with the concept of social stories. I'd like to say I write my own social stories but there is a copyright on the coined term "social story" so for now I will use the words "social narratives" or "social scripts" when I am talking about the stories I've been writing for my son. No question that I find them extremely helpful when I have to tell my son about an upcoming event - social gatherings or trips at school, visits to the doctor, dentist or any other health agencies that we parents of ASD children often encounter. Narratives or scripts do the same job of social stories as defined by the copyright holder, Carol Gray but while Gray insists on following her own formula for writing such stories - one needs to receive training writing the stories at Geneva Centre for Autism in Toronto (the clinic being the leading centre in Canada for training in autism intervention) before one can claim they write social stories or teach social story writing - the rest of us can write our own "narratives" or "scripts". In its basic form, when I am writing a social script all I have to do is 1. include the five Ws (who, what, where, when, why - the usual things relating to an event, 2. talk about what he/she might see, hear and feel during this event, 3. who he/she can ask for help and 4.inform how long will the event be. This kind of narrative can help to build a list of expectations and help eliminate much of the unpleasant sensation likely to be triggered in a child when encountering the unexpected. Works like a charm with my son for me. If you are interested in looking at samples of social stories, there are many floating around on the internet. You can either write your own to fit the need the day for your child or grab one of those on the internet and adapt. It really is easy to do once you get started with the first one.