SpecialNeeds.com

Social skills stories describe an event, skill, or concept with included social cues or common responses.  For children with autism, these social stories can help them understand social events and appropriate ways to respond.  Social skills stories are meant to be told in a reassuring manner, so the audience easily understands and can apply the story to real life events and expectations.

The Social Skills Stories app from iGet It, LLC gives you a tool for creating your own social stories.  As each individual is different, not one social story will work for everyone.  The app is completely customizable but also gives the story a professional and appealing look.

Social Skills Stories includes a sample for you to follow, and the app is incredibly user friendly.  Within the app you can create a “book,” add pages to the book, and upload your own images.  Add a picture to each page of the book as well as include a title and subtitle.  You can also include a page checkmark, so once a task is completed or understood on the page, you can check it off.

The app is really what you make of it, and it provides you with an excellent template for making quality social skills stories for nearly any situation.  The app also includes a lock feature, so your child cannot accidentally delete an existing story.  Social Skills Stories also has a multiple user feature, so you can add different individuals who might need different stories.  You can rearrange the books based on daily routines or rearrange and hide pages based on changes to the story.

Originally designed for children on the autism spectrum, social skills stories are useful for individuals with ADHD, developmental delays, auditory processing disorder, or Down syndrome.  The check mark option is very useful for immediate feedback and sense of accomplishment.  You can even break down a task or event into its smallest steps, so individuals with learning difficulties can learn each individual step that goes into a particular task.

Social Skills Stories lets you create an unlimited amount of social stories.  As a part of the iGet It Series, the app uses visual and text information for teaching information.

Social Skills Stories is available for $4.99 for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.