Most students with autism need to be directly taught social skills that may seem "automatic" for typically developing skills. Teachers can use stories as books or as video presentation to describe a social situation and explain expected and unexpected behaviors. There are a lot of different free resources for all types of situations or skills we need to teach our students.

What are social stories?

Social storiesTM were created by Carol Gray in 1991. They are short descriptions of a particular situation, event or activity, which include specific information about what to expect in that situation and why.

The terms 'social story' and 'social stories' are trademarks originated and owned by Carol Gray.

What are social stories for?

Social stories can be used to:

•  develop self-care skills (eg how to clean teeth, wash hands or get dressed), social skills (eg sharing, asking for help, saying thank you, interrupting) and academic abilities

•  help someone to understand how others might behave or respond in a particular situation

•  help others understand the perspective of an autistic person and why they may respond or behave in a particular way

•  help a person to cope with changes to routine and unexpected or distressing events (eg absence of teacher, moving house, thunderstorms)

•  provide positive feedback to a person about an area of strength or achievement in order to develop self-esteem

•  as a behavioral strategy (eg what to do when angry, how to cope with obsessions).

Reference: https://www.autism.org.uk/about/strategies/social-stories-comic-strips.aspx

WHEN TO USE:

• Use when working on a task with a student who needs, but may not ask for, a break.

• Use when working with a student who gets easily frustrated, bored, or anxious.

• Students can use to show they need time away from a person, task, or environment (e.g., the lunch room because it’s too crowded or loud).

• Break cards can be a part of a token board, behavior chart, or symbol communication system.

Tip: Allow the student to take breaks that focus or calm them. They may choose to go to a cool down space for their break or use a calming sensory device.

HOW TO USE:

The student can use the card to ask for a break by:

1. touching or pointing to the card.

2. handing the card to the teacher.

3. placing the card on a marked spot on the desk or a token board.

4. holding the card up.

When the student asks for a break in any of these ways, model saying “I need a break.” or “Break, please.”

Teaching the Initial Use of a Break Card

1. It’s important to help the student realize when they need to use the break card before they get too upset or off-task. Before beginning an activity or task, show the student the break card and place the card where they can easily reach it.

2. Tell them, “This is your break card. You can use it to ask for a break.” When the student starts to get upset or off-task, tell them, “You seem upset. Use your break card to tell me you need a break.”

3. Immediately allow the student to take a break from the task. Allowing the student to go on a break when they request it is an important part of teaching the student to trust and use the visual support.

4. After the student is consistently asking for breaks, you may begin to extend the time between the request and the actual break. Eventually, you may impose additional requirements or defer the break to a later time.

Tip: Help the student make connections between their own body language and behavior and the need for a break. You can say, for example, “I see that you are rubbing your head and frowning. You can ask for a break when you start to feel upset.”

VARIATIONS:

• A "Help" card can get a student the help they need to keep them from getting too frustrated with a task and needing a break. Teach students to use a help card in addition to a break card to reduce the number of times a student asks for a break.

• If needed, a break signal can be something other than a card, such as placing a water bottle on the edge of the desk.

Reference: https://autismcircuit.net/tool/break-card

The Zones is a systematic, cognitive behavioral approach used to teach self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete colored zones.  The Zones framework provides strategies to teach students to become more aware of and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, manage their sensory needs, and improve their ability to problem solve conflicts. It incorporates Social Thinking (www.socialthinking.com) concepts along with visuals and other strategies 

Reference: https://www.zonesofregulation.com/learn-more-about-the-zones.html

https://www.socialthinking.com/

WHEN TO USE:

• When a visual is needed to support development of appropriate social behaviors, emotions, and other abstract ideas.

• Use to help students identify feelings, appropriate social behaviors, or other abstract ideas.

How to use:

1. Identify a target social behavior, emotion, or other idea

2. Fill out the scale.

3. Practice using the scale with the student often using modeling, prompting, and reinforcement.

4. Explicitly teach expected behaviors using modeling, prompting, and reinforcement.

5. After the student gets used to the scale, try asking them where they think they are on the scale and what they can do to get back to a 1.

Tip: Have the student participate in building the scale. This gives them the opportunity to reflect on their own behaviors and emotions objectively during the creation process, and increases the likelihood that they will identify with what is written on the scale when they use it.

Reference: http://autismcircuit.net/tool/five-point-scale