For many teachers and parents teaching Social Skills to children with autism can be difficult. When you think of a social skill like for example lining up in class, there are many different aspects to this skill, which can be confusing to a child with autism.

We must always bear in mind that a child with autism thinks literally so may not see things the same as a typically developing child or indeed you: So for example with a skill like lining up the child with autism may not actually want to line up at that moment and will not understand why it is necessary, or maybe they wish to be first in the line; and will not understand why this is not possible every day.
The idea of taking turns or following rules may be confusing for kids on the spectrum, this is due to social skills deficits which ARE common to all kids on the spectrum.

The child with autism is not being difficult he/she has social skills deficits which make learning social, communication and imagination skills difficult for them, without direct teaching.
Many parents and teachers use autism social skills stories for teaching social skills such as lining up, taking turns and other appropriate behaviours in school and around the home.

Autism social skills stories ARE short descriptive visual tools which use visual images and first person text to help kids on the spectrum understand the skill or situation that they are struggling with. The social story acts like a visual framework or step by step plan of the skill, breaking it down into smaller relevant sections the “social cues”.

The social story answers the “wh” questions: who, what, where, why and when as well as “HOW” and will give the ASD child an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others which is an area of marked weakness in most children with autism.

Autism social skills stories for teaching social skills are easy to use, can be edited and need no formal training to use.

Autism social stories can be used for various situations and skills including: self-help skills, hygiene, transitions, changes to routines and so on.

To learn more about autism social skills stories and visual social story cards visit:
http://www.autismsocialstories.com