Social narrative


Social narrative is a learning tool designed for a person with disability that teaches them how to do something new. It is referred to as a story or a written explanation that tells the learner not only what to do but also what the situation is, with the goal of addressing the challenge of learners finding social situations confusing.

Concept

Social narrative is described as short story that could be employed as an antecedent intervention for students that have behavioral challenges due to social and emotional development deficits. It depicts and explains social interactions, common behavioral expectations, and their respective social subtexts.
A defining feature of the social narrative is that it is individualized and narrated from the child or the learner's perspective. The story focuses on relevant cues and provides the learners appropriate responses through examples. It is written by an educator according to the learner's instructional level and is often complemented by contents such as pictures and photographs that do not only confirm the information being conveyed but also promote self-awareness, self-calming, and self-management.

Types

are considered a type of social narrative. In a particular story, the expectations – including those of others such as peers and teachers – are clearly and accurately described. Social scripts constitute another type of social narrative. These can be audio or written sentences or paragraphs that the learners can use in different settings and situations so that their ability to interact with others is enhanced.
Social stories, which are attributed to Carol Gray, is primarily used to describe a specific way of constructing a social narrative. This type of narrative follows a formula, which orients the story towards description instead of direction. Social scripts, on the other hand, describe specific comments and questions appropriate to given situations. It is written in scripted prompt format or videotaped statements or phrases that learners can use in social situations. The statements are simple such as: "Hi, can I sit here?", or "Can you help me?".
Both of these types of social narratives can be employed to instruct a learner on how to introduce themselves to others, ask for help, initiate conversations, and join a group of peers.

Technique

The social narrative is usually written in first person and the perspective of the learner so that the story matches his experiences, feelings, and behavior. It is often developed by an expert and the patient since it integrates new social information relevant to the patient. There are no strict guidelines when writing social narratives but the process usually involve the following steps:
  1. Identification of the social situation for intervention;
  2. Definition of target behavior for data collection;
  3. Collection of data;
  4. Social narrative writing.
Some guidelines for social narrative development include the use of language understood by the learner. The narrative is also written according to his comprehension skills. There is also the preference for the "I" statements and the construction of sentences using present and future tenses.