Episode #38: MP - Visual Conversations
Episode #38: MP - Visual Conversations
Carol Gray, who was the woman who coined the term “social stories,” developed them to help people with autism better understand social situations. She was witnessing that her clients were not always aware of some social nuances but when they were aware of them, they could navigate quite well. The way she designed them, the child, teen or adult is actively involved in the actual writing or creation of the social story.
People with autism do well with information provided visually. You have found that, I am sure, with the person you know with autism. They tend to appreciate written schedules and lists, for example. And they tend also to not only better understands information that is provided visually but he also tends to trust it more than what is heard.
A recent example where I guided a team to think. about a situation where one my clients might find a social story helpful is when he wants to be the winner in his video gaming.
So here is how I imagine this social story being written WITH this person. RIGHT before sitting down to play a video game with him, you might take out a blank piece of paper and state something like “Let’s talk about playing video games together real quick before we play.” Then write “Sometimes, you win the games we play.” Allow his attention to shift to you while you are writing and provide time after you write the first line to see if he has anything to say or suggest. The next line would presumably be “Sometimes, other people win.” again, pause. He may offer something you are not expecting that will indicate where he needs more information. For example, if he gets irritated even when you write that, you know he is already agitated before you even start playing and the story may need to be about relaxing your body before playing or taking breaks while you play. This should be and is the beauty of social stories. They may not be exactly what you start out thinking they should be about. They are individualized to what the person is struggling with and you may not know until you sit down to hash it out.
Okay, I’ll return to imagining that he is struggling with the concept of winning and losing. So the conversation in writing will continue from “Sometimes, you win. Sometimes other people win.” Next, you may write “playing video games with friends is fun.” - Carol Gray supports us in making sure we make statements about the enjoyable parts, not just what someone should do.
Then we might write “When my opponent wins, I get upset” - again, a statement. No judgement here.
Then “my opponent wins, they are happy.” and you may consider next “when my friends feel happy, they will want to play again.” and “I like it when my friends are happy” and finally, a statement again recommended by Carol Gray to end with a positive…. “My family is proud of me when I allow my friends to win in video games, too”
The social story is meant to be written together then reviewed together. Don’t forget to review, even when things are going well. You might consider reviewing it together each and every time you play video games together for a little while before you can retire the story and assume he is feeling more successful.
For more information, please go to Carol Gray’s website: https://carolgraysocialstories.com/
Thank you for your time in listening and let me know what, if anything else you’d like to hear about from me.
For more tips, tools, techniques and information, please go to my website: synergyautismcenter.com
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