Instructional Scripts
One variation on the direct-instruction approach involves using social scripts as a part of social interaction training. Haring and Ryndak (1994) describe social scripts as “routine social interaction patterns that can be repeated many times in a variety of contexts” (p. 303). As you have learned, social skills deficits and communication deficits are strongly interrelated. Children and youth with autism may have difficulty generating situation-appropriate words and phrases because of their language and communication deficits. Social scripts are useful in prompting students to use appropriate words in social interaction situations. Students are able to focus on other variables of the social situation without the obstacle of not having the words to say. Social scripts have been shown to be an effective intervention component with both preschoolers and adolescents with autism (e.g., Camargo et al., 2014; Goldstein & Cisar, 1992; MacDuff, Ledo, McClannahan, & Krantz, 2007).
To use social scripts, first identify situations in which scripts may be beneficial to facilitating social interaction. For example, perhaps the teacher’s assessment reveals that peers without disabilities often extend verbal greetings to one of his students in the halls as the student is walking to class in the morning, but the student does not respond. The teacher could develop a generic script that would enable the student to respond appropriately to any greeting, such as “Hi, how are you?” or “Hey, how’s it going?” or “Hi, see you later!” The teacher could then use a direct-instruction approach to teach the student to say these words in response to greetings.
Social scripts may be written or pictorial and can provide specific instructions or general prompts. As students begin consistently exhibiting the target social behaviors, the social scripts should be altered or faded to reduce the likelihood of the student becoming dependent on the script (Ledbetter-Cho et al., 2016).
Story-Based Interventions
In story-based interventionsstory-based interventionsA socialization intervention in which a brief, individualized story is read to a student immediately before a situation where challenging behavior is expected to occur. The purpose of the story is to remind the student of expected behavior(s) to use in that situation. story-based interventionsA socialization intervention in which a brief, individualized story is read to a student immediately before a situation where challenging behavior is expected to occur. The purpose of the story is to remind the student of expected behavior(s) to use in that situation., a brief, individualized story is read to the student immediately before a situation where challenging behavior is expected to occur. The purpose of the story is to remind the student of expected behavior(s) to use in that situation. Social Stories™Social Stories™A commercial story-based socialization intervention in which brief situation- or behavior-specific stories are read to the student immediately before certain activities. Social Stories™A commercial story-based socialization intervention in which brief situation- or behavior-specific stories are read to the student immediately before certain activities. are one version of story-based interventions. Social Stories™ consist of brief, structured stories that describe specific social situations a student will encounter and appropriate responses to the social stimuli that will be encountered in that situation (Gray & Garand, 1993).
Story-based interventions are individualized to each student’s social needs and can be developed for virtually any social situation the student will encounter (initiating greeting, waiting turns, sharing, responding to social initiations, etc.). Story-based interventions have been demonstrated to improve social behavior (communication, interpersonal, and self-regulation skills) and decrease challenging behaviors for some students with autism (e.g., Chan & O’Reilly, 2008; National Autism Center, 2015; Whalon et al., 2015). This intervention is thought to be beneficial because the individualized stories combine information about needed social skills with visual cues (pictures or words or both). We recommend, however, that stories not be used in isolation but as one component of a comprehensive social intervention plan that includes direct instruction of target skills, antecedent prompting, or peer-mediated interventions.
To create a story-based intervention, a target social situation is identified, along with the social stimuli the student will encounter in that situation and desired student response( s) to those stimuli. Next, the stories are put in written format, using approximately two to five sentences, and written using language and print size appropriate for the student. For students who need visual cues, one or more pictures or icons should be used to represent each sentence.
Gray and Garand (1993) recommend including three types of sentences in a social story:
· (1)
descriptive sentencesdescriptive sentencesUsed in social stories to provide information about the social context (setting, people, activities, etc.) targeted in the story. descriptive sentencesUsed in social stories to provide information about the social context (setting, people, activities, etc.) targeted in the story., which provide information about the social context (setting, people, activities, etc.);
· (2)
directive sentencesdirective sentencesUsed in social stories to instruct the student what to do in a particular social situation. directive sentencesUsed in social stories to instruct the student what to do in a particular social situation., which tell the student what to do; and
· (3)
perspective sentencesperspective sentencesSentences used in social stories to describe feelings of individuals involved in particular social situations. perspective sentencesSentences used in social stories to describe feelings of individuals involved in particular social situations., which describe feelings of individuals involved in the situation.
For example, say you need to teach a student how to transition from a preferred activity to a less preferred one without tantrums. Figure 7.1 shows an example of a story that might be used for that purpose.
Figure 7.1Example of a Social Story
The teacher reads the story to the student just before the target social situation several days in a row. In the example in Figure 7.1 , the story should be read to the student just before center time. Once the story has been introduced, students should be allowed access to it throughout the day. In addition to these guidelines, Scott, Clark, and Brady (2000) recommend having the student practice the target behavior in conjunction with reading the story. For example, the story in Figure 7.1 might be read to Brent; then during or after the story he should practice the target behaviors (putting a toy back on the shelf, walking to group, sitting in his chair).