Social Stories™ for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Meta Synthesis

Abstract

Throughout the last decade, the popularity of Social Stories™ by Carol Gray (or if deviated from Gray’s story prescriptions, social stories) to help decrease challenging behaviors and to increase positive social skills has risen. This strategy has been used primarily for individuals under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Despite the widespread approval by teachers, many limitations affect the validity of the Social Story™ or social story intervention and what skills people (i.e. receptive and expressive language, reading skills, cognitive abilities) need in order for this approach to be successful. Further research is needed in order to solidify the findings from several research studies. This meta-synthesis of the literature on Social Stories™ and/ social stories examines the effectiveness of this type of intervention for individuals on the Autism Spectrum.