Stories as Social Narratives for Students Identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The purpose of this chapter is to identify how stories can be used as a strategy to support students in attaining skills. More specifically, we focus on social stories or brief scenarios that are intentionally developed to address specific skills as a means to facilitate skill development. Social stories are particularly beneficial for visual learners, and thus, are an effective means to support students identified with autism spectrum disorder in developing a variety of skills. Educators can present social stories in a variety of formats such as narratives, comics, power cards, and technology-enhanced methods. In this chapter we present vignettes, highlight various social story formats, identify how to create and effectively implement social stories, and present a variety of print- and web-based resources. All educators can benefit from reading this chapter, and particularly educators who instruct students identified with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental disabilities.