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Social stories are simple stories that are very useful tools to help explain social situations in advance to children, and to teach them to respond in a socially appropriate manner. This helps them be better prepared to face various situation in the real world and reduces their anxieties and frustrations when they actually encounter the situation. 

Examples include: 

• Turn-taking and sharing objects with other children while playing in a group

• Waiting in a queue at a billing counter 

• Waiting in a queue to board a bus or train

• Explaining a lockdown situation

• Shifting your house 

• Preparing for a train or flight journey

etc. 

Social stories were originally created in 1991 by Carol Gray, a teacher for children with autism. They are essentially visual descriptions of a situation, event, concept, or activity. They can be useful for people of all ages having social and communication challenges. The visual representation makes it easier to understand and the audio helps in reinforcing concepts by through repeated listening. 

Example of a social story: 
Being sick

How to create social stories?

It is very simple to create social stories in Avaz. 

1. Write down the sequence of sentences as you would explain to a child to help understand the situation in advance. 
   Create a new category or folder with the title of the social story, e.g. "If you are sick". 
2. Add one icon for each sentence. Pick an appropriate icon from the Symbols library or add  your own photo or choose from the web. 
3. Write the main part of the sentence in the Caption field so that the entire text is visible. E.g. "cover mouth"
4. In the Speak As field, write the entire sentence that you want spoken aloud and conveyed to the child. E.g. "Cover your mouth while you cough".

More social stories : 

Social story on Avaz, created by parent, Smrithy Rajesh, to help prepare her son, Advaith for an upcoming train journey.