Comments on: Social Story: Fire Alarms In School

By: geek.teacher » Blog Archive » This week’s comments elsewhere (weekly)

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:09:51 +0000

[...] Social Story: Fire Alarms In School | Apace of Change [...]

By: damian

damian — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:06:19 +0000

Thanks, Whitney. I like the idea of closing with a positive statement; that was really the only part of my final product I was dissatisfied with, but I couldn’t think of another way to end it.

I’ll be keeping your and Dan’s ideas in mind for the next story I write; seems I’ve got the middle part down pat, but you guys gave some excellent suggestions for the beginning and end of the next one.

By: Whitney

Whitney — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:50:14 +0000

Hey Damien! Great story…I love writing social stories….I do them for a lot of students I work with. Have you ever watched Carol Grey’s training on how to write them? It’s about 4 hours or so long…a bit boring but it definitely helped me! My only suggestion is the same as someone else’s….Carol stressed using all “I” statements and including pictures of the student actually performing whatever positive social act it is….maybe a picture of him waiting in line at the fire drill? The only other thing is she always ends with a positive “can do” or “will try” statement….something like “Now that I know the rules about fire alarms, I will try to follow them when I am in school. I can do it!” Something like that

By: damian

damian — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:22:13 +0000

Hey, thanks for all the ideas, everyone. I added a page about legal consequences and put as much of the text into first-person as possible.

Dan, great idea about adding information about the student; I will definitely consider utilizing that on my next social story.

I uploaded the revised version here:

Edit: I took it down because I realized I forgot to black out the administrator’s face again. I’ll get it up again once I get a chance to make that edit.

By: Dan Callahan

Dan Callahan — Mon, 25 May 2009 22:09:20 +0000

My contribution would be similar to those above...most social stories I've seen have been not just first-person, but personalized. The first line of the story i typically "My name is ___________." That might be followed by a related detail, such as "I go to _____________ school."For autistic students, the point of the story is to help them internalize the message, and since they can have difficulty with seeing things from other perspectives, the more personalized the story, the better. Dan Callahan’s last blog post..This week’s comments elsewhere (weekly)

By: Ben Wildeboer

Ben Wildeboer — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:57:18 +0000

I think the social story you've created is really quite good. I think the images from the school will add familiarity to the situation and they do a nice job of illuminating the ideas you're trying to get across. I think the inclusion of the possible legal consequences are a good idea as well, since I think it's pretty important that the student realize that pulling a fire alarm isn't just against the school rules, it's against the laws of the land. In that vein, the only thing I might add is something about how pulling fire alarms anywhere is a no-no, not just at school. Nice work! Ben Wildeboer’s last blog post..Creating stories in chemistry

By: Jackie Ballarini

Jackie Ballarini — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:57:05 +0000

I was going to second Pat's suggestion to include an "I' statement. Perhaps include the student's name ... "The principal said, 'John, If you pull the fire alarm then ... ' ". Find a way to make them own the situation. I had to write social stories for a class. It was much, much harder than I thought it would be. I like that you didn't use clip art, but instead used pictures of scenes from the student's everyday life. I think that will help. Jackie Ballarini’s last blog post..Reviewing

By: Damian

Damian — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:58:33 +0000

Ooh, good suggestions; thanks. I like the first-person and legal elements - I work in a high school, so I think your suggestions are certainly age-appropriate. I will make some changes before I print and give to the student. Thanks Pat! Damian’s last blog post..Social Story: Fire Alarms In School

By: Pat

Pat — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:53:35 +0000

I have had a high school student with down syndrome pull the fire alarm twice and was arrested but the social story really helped him. I personalized it more by using the word “I” as if he was telling the story. That tells him that the story is about him instead of someone else. Statements like “Fire alarms tell me that there may be a fire and I need to leave the building”, “I don’t pull the fire alarm unless there is a real fire”, “If I pull the alarm when there is no fire, the fire department may not come next time because they won’t believe me.” I’m not sure what age group you are teaching but if it is an older student I would also put in a page that causing false alarms is against the law (I could get arrested if I pull the fire alarm when there isn’t a fire). Many autistic students see things as black or white and this definite statement may help the student know that it is wrong. Good luck with your student.

By: Damian

Damian — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:22:48 +0000

Oh, and in case I wasn't clear, I don't think the picture of the principal is contradictory - I just didn't want to make the student think that the principal is a "bad guy" or someone to be feared, just that that is a consequence of pulling the alarm. I found it difficult to convey the complexities of human relationship dynamics in short, basic sentences and concrete terms. I think there's a lesson to be learned here... Damian’s last blog post..Social Story: Fire Alarms In School