School Holidays: Social Story

This 3 page Social Story (TM) aims to help your child to cope with time off from school.

It clearly explains that school holidays are all different lengths, and that during them your child won’t be going to school.

It frames school holidays as a positive thing, giving examples of fun activities they can do while they are not at school.

It also reassures them that the holidays are a temporary thing, and that they will be returning to school.

It uses Picture Communication Symbols (by Dynavox Mayer-Johnson, used with permission), which are the symbols used in the Boardmaker software and are most commonly used in schools etc. This means your child is likely to already be familiar with them, which can greatly aid understanding of the key messages in the story.

What are Social Stories?

The National Autistic Society describes Social Stories (TM) as:

“Social stories (TM) were created by Carol Gray in 1991. They are short descriptions of a particular situation, event or activity, which include specific information about what to expect in that situation and why.

Social stories present information in a literal, ‘concrete’ way, which may improve a person’s understanding of a previously difficult or ambiguous situation or activity.

The presentation and content can be adapted to meet different people’s needs.”

These Social Stories (TM) have been carefully written to describe specific situations, and although they are not completely personalised to your child’s own needs, they are nonetheless extremely useful to have in your ‘autism toolbox’ to help your child to cope with everyday situations that they might otherwise find difficult.