Customer Reviews

The New Social Story Book, Revised and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition: Over 150 Social Stories that Teach Everyday Social Skills to Children with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome, and their Peers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gray and other scholars have amassed a great deal of research about the effectiveness of social stories, and I've read many of those articles in peer-reviewed research journals. In other words, while a lot of strategies for kids who have Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are fad-based or passing, this isn't. My own experience (as a special educator certified in NC in the area of autism) in using social stories attests to that just as much as those research findings do.

This resource includes a CD of social stories, which allows you to access stories and make child-specific changes to them without having to re-type the whole thing. That's a huge help! In the book, you'll find a tutorial section if social stories are new to you. Then there are sections with stories and pictures for:

-Learning with Social Stories (

-Change (8 stories)

-Mistakes (6 stories)

-Me and My Feelings (21 stories, which is fantastic since this is a tough area for kids with ASDs)

-Celebrations and Gifts (11 stories)

-People Skills and Friendship (24 stories)

-Bullying (9 stories)

-Understanding adults (11 stories)

-Home and Community (15 stories)

-School (29 stories)

-Planet earth (21 stories, including 12 about flying on airplanes - this seemed like an oddly titled chapter because most of the stories were only tangentially related to earth)

-And a glossary

This strategy takes time to get used to, but once you're comfortable with it, it can be a great tool for students with social difficulties. While it's been proven with students with ASDs, I've used it with students with emotional and behavioral disabilities and with students who are not socially adept as well.

The reason I bought this was so I could get the CD that comes with it and use it to change it to work for my son. It is in PDF format and you are not able to change the things on the CD. Each of these kids is different and it would be extremely helpful if you could change names or photos to be more familiar for the child. I am very disappointed in my purchase. I will try to use the ideas in the book but would probably return it if it was from a local store.

I am a therapist and used this book with a 10 year old with Asperger's. I really liked the idea and the book, which is beautifully made and printed, and the accompanying CD, but he didn't really care for it. I used several stories and also made a couple customized stories based on her instructions, but while the parent and I liked the stories they weren't much of a hit with this little one either. We then used Jed Baker's picture social skills books, and he loved those. Maybe this approach would work with another child, but for now I am sticking with Jed Baker. I think in the future I may pull from either one depending on the child or skill at hand.

One of my purchases this spring was The New Social Story Book because I wanted some 'home' curriculum of social stories. After reading reviews I settled on this book and I'm quite satisfied. I think a lot of the social story books that I had seen in the past were targeting pre-school to 1st grade kids as well as much lower functioning kids. Carol Gray's book is most definitely targeting late elementary to middle school higher functioning kids. The language is mature and straight forward, but still appealing to a child.

We've been using the book for four months now and I'm very pleased. My son is fine with reading the stories together and discussing them and he's liked several of the 'activities'. We started with the intro, but then skipped around to the areas that he was having the most immediate need. The book tackles many critical areas for kids on the spectrum such as change, mistakes, bullying, school, as well as basic social skills areas such as greetings and parties. There's also a large section dealing with feelings, emotions, and feeling comfortable. I really like her 'Fort Able' concept.

After hitting some 'key stories' for him, I went back to the beginning and have been doing most of the pertinent stories in order (The Fort Able section in full) and occasionally skipping some stories that aren't too applicable or he's pretty much beyond.

The front section of the book contains a lot of great information for the parent or therapist who wants to learn about social story construction and usage.

There's a CD that includes pdf and word copies of the book to print out if desired for group activity or printing some of the activity sheets to fill out.

This book is an excellent resource. My plan is to continue using the book for the remainder of the summer and hit the 'school' section in full the week before school starts back up. And absolutely, this book is a great resource for neurotypical children as well! Everyone can benefit from thinking about and discussing social stories, even me:)

I am not finished with the book however I am already impressed. I read the sections with my son, we talk about them and do the worksheets. Its amazing what he comes up with. Its given me some insight as to how to handle certain situations and what he likes, fears etc... I take it very slow. Well worth it!!!!!

The social stories are written very clearly and with repetition so the message gets through. I'm reading a few stories each night to my kids and they seem to find it interesting for the most part. They are high functioning, so some of the stuff is more basic than they need, but there are plenty of areas that help explain the reasons for particular types of interactions, etc. I'm glad I bought this!

These social stories explain so many situations that kids find challenging. My 6 year old with Aspergers needs to be explicitly told the reasons why things are as they are, why we need to do what we need to do, and what is his "job" or our expectation of him. The stories greatly reduce his rigidity and anxiety for new situations & places - he knows what to expect, and he knows what is expected of him. He will often resist "social story time", but as soon as I start reading a story that is relevant to a recent or upcoming experience, he is fully engaged, asks great questions, and wants to read more stories. It works great for my son. I also have Jed Baker's book referenced in the other reviews, which is also a great resource. The books address very different types of situations in different ways. Jed's book addresses how to handle everyday, common social situations, and has been very helpful for us as well. The main difference is Carol Grey's stories address a lot of novel situations as well as common situations, typically explaining "why" with intentionally little instruction, while Jed's book is purely instructional.

Thank you Mz Carol Gray for a masterpiece! I just loved reading and learning how to create Social Stories for those children wanting reasons and not commands. I love the democratic approach to parenting, and teaching our children to navigate through their world without feeling foolish. Social Stories have opened up a world of independence to many children as parents can formulate their own stories to meet the individual needs of the child. I found the many examples in the book most useful as a template to write more fluently and effectively. Loved the CD attached to further help you produce your own work which is tailored to the individual child/teen. So grateful to the Author for her eye for detail when it comes to Social Stories. A must for every educator and that includes parents who become their child's first and last educator.

This book provides a variety of social stories that can be used to help children with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome. A must have for any Intervention Specialist!

It has good ideas and resources for dealing with writing social stories. It has been a purchase I have needed to make for several years as I deal with kids with autism etc.