Designing Social Stories Program and Determining Its Efficacy on Social Skills and Its Three Components of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Social skill deficiency is an obvious characteristic in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to design social stories program and determine its efficacy on social skills in children with ASD.

In this single subject study with baseline and intervention (ABAB) design, four 7 to 12-year-old-male children with ASD were selected in convenient method in Mashhad City. Their target behavior was determined based on their characteristics, then the social stories were designed accordingly. The social skills of all children were assessed by the Autism Social Skills Profile Questionnaire (ASSP) and systematic observation. Children participated in 20 training sessions (five times a week; 30 minutes per session) and received social stories. The social skills were assessed at the end of intervention. The data were analyzed by baseline diagrams, effect size, and improvement percentage.

Regarding to effect sizes and improvement percentage, 10.45%, 9.24%, 7.93%, and 16.34% of improvement in social skills, social reciprocity, social participation, and social detrimental behavior were due to participation in the intervention program. In addition, systematic observation showed that social stories have been led to improvement of social reciprocity of four children, social participation of two children, and social detrimental behavior of three children respectively.

Based on the efficacy of social stories on social skills (social reciprocity, social participation, and social detrimental behavior) of children with ASD, it can be concluded that considering social stories in training curriculum for ASD children will prevent the problems of their social relations.