Social Stories?

[Anonymous]

I have a 3 year old with AS who has as of now been deemed ineligible for services through the school district. We're planning to pay for as much therapy as we can and try to do some at home. Many people have recommended Social Stories to me but I'm wondering how to access the material. I found a book on Amazon but I'm not sure if that's the same thing that would be used in a professional setting? Any advice would be great, thanks!

[Anonymous]

Your 3 year old has a diagnosis and is not being served by the school system? The first thing to address is to get an advocate. Onto social stories, yes they work very well. They need to be child focused and reflect the day (or event that is to be addressed) of the child. Us simple pictures and language. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your 3 year old has a diagnosis and is not being served by the school system? The first thing to address is to get an advocate. Onto social stories, yes they work very well. They need to be child focused and reflect the day (or event that is to be addressed) of the child. Us simple pictures and language. Good luck!

Not every child with a diagnosis will get services, because not every child with a diagnosis has problems that affect his/her ability to be educated. Services provided by the school system (as opposed to Early Intervention) have to be geared toward education. They can't just go toward "life skills" -- like learning how to socialize. That's not something the school system is required to teach you. Unless the child has a problem that affects ability to benefit from his/her education, the school system doesn't have a responsibility to provide therapy.

Telling everyone to get an advocate can be irresponsible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 3 year old with AS who has as of now been deemed ineligible for services through the school district. We're planning to pay for as much therapy as we can and try to do some at home. Many people have recommended Social Stories to me but I'm wondering how to access the material. I found a book on Amazon but I'm not sure if that's the same thing that would be used in a professional setting? Any advice would be great, thanks!

If the school district which is denying services is DCPS, then hire someone and get ready to sue. DCPS NEVER considers the interest of the child, they always and only consider spending as little as possible. Period.

Fortunately, with a decent advocate or lawyer you'll win.

[Anonymous]

Fairfax County also denies services for some kids with a solid diagnosis that are still on grade level ... they make you wait until your child falls behind before starting services. And significant (not to be confused with mild) social delays do impact a child's attainment of educational goals to an increasing degree as the child moves up through the grades. Anyone who remembers middle school even a little will understand how this is so. So whether or not an advocate can force a jurisdiction to provide services for social skills is unclear to me, but I do recommend addressing the issue through private services to the extent you can afford to do so. It is very important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your 3 year old has a diagnosis and is not being served by the school system? The first thing to address is to get an advocate. Onto social stories, yes they work very well. They need to be child focused and reflect the day (or event that is to be addressed) of the child. Us simple pictures and language. Good luck!

Not every child with a diagnosis will get services, because not every child with a diagnosis has problems that affect his/her ability to be educated. Services provided by the school system (as opposed to Early Intervention) have to be geared toward education. They can't just go toward "life skills" -- like learning how to socialize. That's not something the school system is required to teach you. Unless the child has a problem that affects ability to benefit from his/her education, the school system doesn't have a responsibility to provide therapy.

Telling everyone to get an advocate can be irresponsible.

If a child has a diagnosis on the ASD spectrum there is a reason. It is crazy to say that an ASD does not effect success in school. Get yourself an attorney and get ready for a fight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax County also denies services for some kids with a solid diagnosis that are still on grade level ... they make you wait until your child falls behind before starting services. And significant (not to be confused with mild) social delays do impact a child's attainment of educational goals to an increasing degree as the child moves up through the grades. Anyone who remembers middle school even a little will understand how this is so. So whether or not an advocate can force a jurisdiction to provide services for social skills is unclear to me, but I do recommend addressing the issue through private services to the extent you can afford to do so. It is very important.

My experience is that FCPS will deny services if the child is on grade level. Prior to our DS getting ADHD (inattentive) and LD diagnoses, it was clear to us that something was impeding his learning. We knew it was only a matter of time before he fell below grade level and were concerned because his confidence was plummeting and anxiety escalating. FCPS refused to even evaluate him and we had to do it all privately. Getting a consultant/advocate to work with us made all the difference - that and a solid diagnosis. We also have social goals in his IEP. He receives services through school but we also supplement privately. Although some people view getting a consultant/advocate as adversarial, it's allowed us to maintain a very positive relationship with the school. Some of the initial meetings were difficult (we have two kids with SN) but a year into it, I can say we don't have the problems we had in the beginning. Certainly, before a new teacher/specialist comes to her first IEP meeting with us, she's been told to come prepared and have all her ducks in a row. It's made for much more productive and shorter IEP meetings and excellent IEPs. If nothing else, working with a consultant/advocate helps you know what your options are and what you should/should not expect from the school. Unless you have a strong background in education, it's really hard to know what's appropriate and what you should expect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your 3 year old has a diagnosis and is not being served by the school system? The first thing to address is to get an advocate. Onto social stories, yes they work very well. They need to be child focused and reflect the day (or event that is to be addressed) of the child. Us simple pictures and language. Good luck!

Not every child with a diagnosis will get services, because not every child with a diagnosis has problems that affect his/her ability to be educated. Services provided by the school system (as opposed to Early Intervention) have to be geared toward education. They can't just go toward "life skills" -- like learning how to socialize. That's not something the school system is required to teach you. Unless the child has a problem that affects ability to benefit from his/her education, the school system doesn't have a responsibility to provide therapy.

Telling everyone to get an advocate can be irresponsible.

If a child has a diagnosis on the ASD spectrum there is a reason. It is crazy to say that an ASD does not effect success in school. Get yourself an attorney and get ready for a fight.

And it is crazy for you to say that just because a child has a diagnosis, he or she will not do well academically. It is also crazy for you to think that the school system is responsible for all of a child's problems -- including his or her social problems. The school system's responsibility is to educate our children, and if a child has problems benefitting from the educational process, the school system must work on those problems. The problems of everyday life are not the school system's responsibility. Parents are responsible if they want their kids to be full-functioning, not the school system. I say this as the parent of a child with an IEP. The school is NOT there to make my child's life perfect.

And no one said there isn't a "reason" that his child has a diagnosis. You are missing the point. There are kids with diagnoses -- diagnoses with a reason -- but if they are doing well academically and their diagnosis doesn't affect the educaitonal process -- not the school district's problem.

[Anonymous]

Autism is not just A diagnosis, it is a PERVASIVE developmental disorder. To assume that the school can just get out of providing services and interventions based on the diagnosis is crazy. 3-5 year olds need more than just academic help. There are sections on the IEP that address exactly that (which you should know if your child has an IEP). It's not just a short-term outlook, because a child's inability to socialize WILL impact his/her academic progress sooner or later.

Parents can only succeed in helping their children if the school is on board, because that is where most children are for the majority of the day.

You must not have a child with Autism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Autism is not just A diagnosis, it is a PERVASIVE developmental disorder. To assume that the school can just get out of providing services and interventions based on the diagnosis is crazy. 3-5 year olds need more than just academic help. There are sections on the IEP that address exactly that (which you should know if your child has an IEP). It's not just a short-term outlook, because a child's inability to socialize WILL impact his/her academic progress sooner or later.

Parents can only succeed in helping their children if the school is on board, because that is where most children are for the majority of the day.

You must not have a child with Autism.

Agreed. ASD kids face a wide variety of challenges which fundamentally impact their ability to learn, regardless of the strength of their cognitive skills. When their senses are entirely overwhelmed, they cannot learn. When their communication deficits prohibit them from accessing the curriculum, they cannot learn. When their lack of executive functioning skills keep them from organizing their bodies, their thoughts, and their behavior, they cannot learn.

Anybody who is familiar with Autism and ASDs knows we're talking about fundamental developmental delays and disorders that affect ALL aspects of a child's ability to communicate and learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your 3 year old has a diagnosis and is not being served by the school system? The first thing to address is to get an advocate. Onto social stories, yes they work very well. They need to be child focused and reflect the day (or event that is to be addressed) of the child. Us simple pictures and language. Good luck!

Not every child with a diagnosis will get services, because not every child with a diagnosis has problems that affect his/her ability to be educated. Services provided by the school system (as opposed to Early Intervention) have to be geared toward education. They can't just go toward "life skills" -- like learning how to socialize. That's not something the school system is required to teach you. Unless the child has a problem that affects ability to benefit from his/her education, the school system doesn't have a responsibility to provide therapy.

Telling everyone to get an advocate can be irresponsible.

Nonsense. I heart my child's advocate. She is the best thing that happened to our education plan!

[Anonymous]

This is the OP. With all due respect, can anyone give me information on Social Stories??

[Anonymous]

Hey OP, NP here -- It's not a bad program but mine really prefered Jed Bakers stuff (the one he likes most is titled something like Social Skills pictures) - my kid is a little too literal for the stories in Social Stories.
It's my understanding with Social Stories that the home version is basically the same as used in therapy but since he didn't care for it we moved on.

Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

There is a great online bookstore at specialneeds.com. You can browse a number of books that try to help with social skill and pragmatics. They have some "social stories" about going to school and dealing with new things that you could check out there.

[Anonymous]

Social stores can be very helpful in helping children work through situations they are having difficulty with, I think it helps remind them of the steps involved and makes the activity less anxiety inducing. You can easily create them on your computer at home. Take photos of your child each step of the process of whatever it is you are working on on and accompany it with simple text. for example, if bath time is a problem, you may start with a photo of the water running and say "first we fill the tub". A few steps later you may say "Time to get washed. The soap makes lots of bubbles! Dont forget your toes." You get the idea. Keep it simple and always have a good outcome as the end of the story. Good Luck!!