Stories to Promote
Social Behaviour
KathleenTripp
Camden Language and Communication Service
kathleen.tripp@camden-plss.camden.sch.uk
Impairment of Social and Emotional
Understanding
Social
Stories
Comic Strip Conversations
Power Card Stories
Problems with Social and
Emotional Understanding
Difficulty recognizing other people’s emotions (facial expression,
tone of voice, sarcasm)
 Empathy
 Shared knowledge
 Relationships between people
 Viewing people as objects
 Over honest/frank –lack of deception Un-spoken rules/personal
space
 Different non-verbal signals –or avoidance e.g. aversion to eye
contact
 Seems pedantic
Are any of these familiar?
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Social Stories and Comic Strip Conversations
by Carol Gray
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What are Social Stories?
Social Stories were developed by Carol Gray in 1991 to
assist individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD)
to develop greater social understanding. A Social Story is
a short description of a particular situation, event or
activity, which includes specific information about what to
expect in that situation and why. They can provide an
individual with some idea of how others might respond in
a particular situation and therefore provide a framework
for appropriate behaviour.
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http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1574
Some Sample Social Stories
Taking Care of Me
 Home
 Going Places
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Picking my nose story
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We all have a nose.
Sometimes I get a cold and my nose gets full of bogies.
This makes my nose feel funny and I don’t like it.
Sometimes I want to pick my nose and eat them so I can get rid of the
bogies.
Adults and children think this is gross and they may say “yuck!”
I don’t want the adults and children to think I am gross. This will make me
feel sad. Yuck!
When I want to pick my nose I need to STOP, get some Tissue and BLOW
my NOSE. Then I need to throw the tissue in the bin.
If I am still having problems and really, really need to pick my nose, I can go
to the toilet where nobody can see me. I MUST wash my hands afterwards.
I like it when adults and children don’t think I am gross. It makes them
happy when I don’t pick my nose. It makes me happy that I can remember
to blow my nose instead. It will make my teacher VERY HAPPY.
www.sparklebox.co.uk
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What is a Comic Strip
Conversation?
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Comic Strip Conversations provide visual
representations of the different levels of
communication that take place in a
conversation, using symbols, stick figure
drawings and colour.
Elements of comic strip
conversations
With a partner….
One person is the ASD child, the other is
the teacher.
 Using the scenario given to you, the
teacher supports the child in developing
some further social understanding as to
what happened in that situation.
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Power Card Stories
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The power card strategy is another way to use a
student's special interest as a tool for support. The
technique consists of two elements:
1. a story about a strategy that a student's hero has
used to solve a problem.
2. the Power Card itself, which is the size of a
business card and recaps how the person using the card
can use the same strategy to solve a similar problem.
Snow White Can
Say “I’m Angry!”
and Fold Her Arms.
Snow White likes school. She
works very hard and likes to play
with her friends.
Sometimes at school, Snow White hits
other children in the class. When this
happens, it upsets the other children
and the teachers as well.
One day, Dopey explained that it is
better to say “I’m angry!” and then
fold your arms. That way no one gets
upset and no one gets hurt. Snow
White thinks this a good idea.
Snow White decides that the next
time she wants to hit someone she will
say “I’m angry!” and fold her arms.
The next time Snow White wanted to
hit someone she said “I’m angry!” and
folded her arms.
Hooray! Snow White did it! She kept
her hands and feet to herself!
Everybody was happy! The adults
and children were very happy that
she managed so well.
Snow White knows that when she gets
angry, she needs to say “I’m angry!”
and fold her arms.
Look at your Power Card Story.
What is the child’s favourite character?
 What is the undesired behaviour?
 What is the replacement behaviour?
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Think about a child you know.
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What is the child’s favourite character?
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What is the undesired behaviour?
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What is the replacement behaviour?
Thank You!
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Please use the CLCS to help you to
develop these stories, we are more than
happy to help!