Social Narratives as an Evidence-Based Practice

According to the National Autism Center’s National Standards Report (2009), the “Story-based Intervention Package” (another name for social narratives or Social Stories) is considered an “Established” intervention method for children with autism age six to fourteen years. Of course, this doesn’t mean that social narratives aren’t effective with other ages, it just means that most of the research has been with children age six to fourteen. The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders lists social narratives as and evidence-based practice and the Association for Science in Autism Treatment states that, while more experimental research needs to be done, evidence does exist for the effectiveness of social narratives.

I hope this amount of research support gives you confidence in trying social narratives with your children or students. Of course, you’ll want to track progress on the goals that you use social narratives to address in order to make sure it is effective for each particular individual.

Selected Resource:

The Social Skills Picture Book Teaching Play, Emotion, and Communication to Children with Autism

References:

Association for Science in Autism Treatment: Social Stories - http://www.asatonline.org/treatment/treatments/social.htm

National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders: Social Narratives - http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/social-narratives

The National Autism Center's National Standards Report (2009) - http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/nsp/