Resources

Creating a Social Story

My friend just sent me a link to a great site for personalized social stories, sandbox-learning.com. Those of us with kids with special needs know all about social stories. We tell them, we write them to help ease our kids into a transition or when something might bring on some anxiety. It helps to set up some realistic expectation and alleviate fears. But, this is the kind of thing that people with normal, boring kids can do as well. Yes, I had to slip that in there. I always see people asking for suggestions on how to prepare their kids for the dentist, a vacation, or transition to a new school. Social stories are a great  way to prepare a child for whats to come. Sandbox-learning.com helps you to create a personalized story about your child. Sandbox-learning is a great tool but you can take many of the same ideas and make your own story with construction paper and crayons. Talking about it is also very important. I set up the expectation by talking about it. First we're going to ____, then we're going to ____. That kind of thing. I also bought a little dry-erase board at Target (helloooooo dollar bins) so I can start making a visual schedule and social stories. An OT that works with Little Bird uses one to make a schedule and she finds it helps LB stick to the plan better and get "distracted" by other things less. She draws pictures and numbers them. So, she'll draw a picture of the blue cuddle swing, then the trampoline, then the books, then the table (ugh, table time!), and then mommy. Something to keep her on track. Making a schedule is great for a lot of younger kids whether they have special needs or not. Children (and adults for that matter) are more comfortable and secure when they know what to expect.