title: Use of social stories to improve self-regulation in children with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: A multiple baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the effects of Social Stories to help preschool-aged children with characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) increase their engagement in functional behaviors and use sensory integrative-based strategies to promote self-regulation. Three children, 3-5 years old, from a self-contained preschool classroom were selected to participate in the study. The intervention package included reading individualized Social Stories that discussed desired behaviors and self-regulation strategies. The researchers measured the percentage of intervals in which participants engaged in desired behaviors. The frequency of desired behaviors increased for all participants. The use of self-regulation strategies varied across participants. These findings suggest that the intervention was successful in increasing desired behaviors of the three children. Further research is recommended on the effectiveness of embedding sensory integrative strategies into Social Stories. Practitioners may consider the use of Social Stories as a tool to increase independence and encourage self-regulated behaviors in children with characteristics of ASD.
authors: Department of Special Education, College of Education, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9253, USA. robyn.m.thompson@utah.edu
authors: Robyn M
authors: RM
authors: Thompson
authors: Susan
authors: S
authors: Johnston
mesh_terms: D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000628:therapy*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D019370:Observation; D012927:Social Control, Informal