Encouraging Positive Behavior With Social Stories

1 's developmental seem to be more and more chil-dren diagnosed with one of these disor-ders. This article can help teachers ininclusive classrooms work with all theirstudents to encourage Positive behaviorand increase learning (see boxes, "WhatIs Autism Spectrum Disorder?" and"What Does the Literature Say?"). To take advantage of the appeal ofboth graphic and story elements formany students, teachers can design sto-ries that encourage students to behavepositively in Social situations, such aseating lunch, playing in the playground,using the library, lining up, and workingwith other students in groups. Socialstories have a long pedigree in ateacher's family of Social Stories in theClassroomLearning to use Social Stories effectivelydoes not require extensive educators can use Social sto-ries classroom teachers, paraprofes-sionals, and related service decision to include Social Stories ina Behavior plan should be made by theindividualized education program (IEP)team.

2 As with any decision, team mem-bers should integrate Social Stories intothe IEP or Behavior support plan in away that complements other interven-tions and ensure maximum benefit, teach-ers should use a systematic checklist forwriting and using Social Stories . Basedon the steps for conducting a functionalassessment (O'Neill et al., 1997), wehave identified six steps necessary forthe effective use of Social Stories : identi-26 COUNCIL FOREXCEPTIONALCHILDRENTEACHING Exceptional Children, Vol. 37, No. 6, pp. 26-31. Copyright 2005 Positive BehaviorWith Social StoriesAn Intervention for ChildrenWith Autism Spectrum DisordersShannon Crozier Nancy M. SileoPromoting Positive Social DevelopmentWhat Is Autism Spectrum Disorder?Educating students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in inclusive settingsencompasses the challenge of providing adequate behavioral supports.

3 ASD is anumbrella term that includes autism, asperger 's syndrome, atypical autism, perva-sive developmental disorder, and childhood disintegrative disorder (NationalResearch Council [NRC], 2001).Autism is characterized by impairments in Social interaction, communication,and behavioral repertoires that occur on a continuum of impairment from mild tosevere (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). These characteristics are preva-lent among the majority of persons with ASD. Because of impairments in theircommunication and Social interaction skills, students with ASD are vulnerable todeveloping inappropriate behaviors (Koegel, Koegel, & Surratt, 1992). Inappropriate Behavior among students with ASD can negatively affect theirability to access services and participate in their community, as well as disrupttheir development and learning (Dunlap & Fox, 1999).

4 Behavior intervention hasshifted from the narrow focus of reducing inappropriate behaviors to a more glob-al perspective of improving quality of life (Carr et al., 2002). Social Stories are emerging in the research literature as user-friendly behavioralstrategies that are effective in remediating inappropriate behaviors in studentswith ASD. The simplicity and utility of Social Stories make them functional in bothgeneral and special education inappropriatebehavior can negativelyaffect their ability to accessservices and participate intheir community, as well asdisrupt their developmentand the need, conduct a functionalassessment (O'Neill et al.), includesocial Stories as part of a comprehensivebehavior support plan, write the socialstory, implement and monitor studentprogress, and evaluate using data (seeFigure 1; O'Neill et al.)

5 Step 1: Identifying Target BehaviorThe primary teacher ( , the general orspecial education teacher) or anotherteam member ( , related service per-sonnel, paraprofessional, or parent)must identify a target Behavior . Youshould do this informally through regu-lar observation of the student orthrough more formal assessments. Forexample, a student may talk or vocalizeat inappropriate times, have difficultystaying with a group, or be unable tofollow the rules of a team can prioritize behaviors forintervention in a variety of ways: According to level of risk to the stu-dent or others. According to how irritating thebehavior is. According to how isolating the behav-ior is. The Behavior most likely to respondquickly to intervention. The first Behavior in an escalationchain.

6 The most difficult or entrenchedbehavior a student displays (Barlow &Hersen, 1984). Step 2: Conducting FunctionalAssessmentOnce you have selected the targetbehavior, you should conduct a func-tional assessment. The functionalassessment provides a picture of whatthe Behavior looks like and allows youto develop a hypothesis as to what caus-es or maintains the student's informal functional assessment maytake only 15 minutes, while a detailed,formal assessment could take severalhours. A functional assessment shouldtake only as long as required to obtainan accurate picture of the target behav-ior and to generate a observations, interviews,and self-assessments are all useful toolsTEACHING EXCEPTIONALCHILDREN JULY/AUGUST2005 27 What Does the Literature Say AboutUsing Social Stories as a Positive Behavior Support?

7 Social story is one type of proactive Behavior intervention that wasdeveloped for use with students with autism and extended for use with studentswith Social story is a short simple story written from the perspective of the stu-dent that provides instruction on Positive , appropriate Social behaviors (Gray &Garand, 1993). Positive behaviors include all behaviors that increase an individ-ual's likelihood of success and satisfaction in school, work, community, recre-ational activities, and Social and family life (Carr et al., 2002).Students with ASD tend to be strong visual learners (Quill, 1995).Concomitantly these students often have difficulty with Social interaction (Quill).A Social story is one way to provide instruction in a medium of strength withoutthe complexity of interpersonal interaction (Scattone, Wilczynski, Edwards, &Rabian, 2002).

8 Effectiveness of Social Stories . Over the past decade, Social Stories have becomea popular intervention strategy among practitioners. Several popular press publi-cations provide guidelines for creating Social Stories , in addition to includinggeneric Stories on common Social situations (Gray, 1993, 2000).Research has demonstrated that Social Stories can be effective across behaviorsand settings. Social Stories have been shown to reduce inappropriate behaviors,such as tantrum behaviors, inappropriate vocalizations, and Social isolation, in thefollowing settings: Inclusive classrooms (Norris & Dattilo, 1999). Self-contained classrooms (Scattone et al., 2002). Residential settings (Kuttler, Myles, and Carlson, 1998). Social Stories have also been effective in decreasing inappropriate behaviors inthe home when implemented by family members (Lorimer, Simpson, Myles, &Ganz, 2002).

9 In addition to reducing inappropriate behaviors, Social Stories are effective inincreasing prosocial behaviors such as initiating Social activity and increasing flex-ibility during Social activities (Feinberg, 2001) and teaching appropriate greetingbehavior (Romano, 2002).The research literature is further supported by anecdotal accounts of the bene-fits of Social Stories in improving the Behavior of students with ASD (Rowe, 1999;Simpson & Myles, 1998; Swaggart & Gagnon, 1995).Guide to Proactive Behavioral research gives threemessages to practitioners. First, proactive intervention of inappropriate Behavior should be the primaryfocus, (NRC, 2001). Second, the goal of any intervention should be to replace the inappropriatebehavior with a functional, appropriate equivalent Behavior (Carr et al.)

10 , 1999). Third, no single or group of interventions will be effective for the inappropriatebehaviors of all students with ASD (Dawson & Osterling, 1997; NRC, 2001).Given these challenges, it is important that the field acquire a deep toolkit ofinterventions that allow for extensive individualization of plans according to 1. Social StoryChecklist Team identifies the need forbehavior intervention. Functional assessment is complet-ed. Social Stories included in behaviorplan. Social story is written. Social story is introduced andprogress is monitored with data. Success is evaluated with data. for data collection during a functionalassessment (O'Neill et al., 1997).One way to accurately assess abehavior is to collect data on the fre-quency or duration of the target behav-ior over several days.