Squirrel Report post Posted March 1, 2009 Hello folks. Robin is not yet diagnosed but the 'Autism Team' are certainly interested in him, in the interviews they have had with us as parents and now with the observation they have made of him at preschool. He will be 4 years old in April and his main areas of difficulty are anger management - good is running into a space and banging his head, bad is hitting or kicking another child or throwing toys - and social interaction, he wants it but can't manage it easily. Anyway ... after the observation the specialist teacher said 'Are you aware of Social Stories' and when I said that I was she said 'I think they could be useful for Robin' ..... So, off to Google I trot! We have made similar 'written expectations' before but not with the structure of descriptive, directive and perspective sentences ..... I think I've got this 'right' ..... There is one sentence from Robin's point of view "I don't want to hurt people" - This is something that he often says after an incident so I thought it was worth using as a focus, but I see that it is not usual to do this in Social Stories, presumably becuase of second-guessing what the child is thinking? My other concern is that I have got 3 directives .... and really should have something about not throwing toys as well ... but that's a whole extra aspect to the topic ... Your thoughts are welcome! Being Angry: Sometimes I feel angry. It's OK to be angry. When I feel angry I can find a space. I will try to use words. I don't want to hurt people. I will try not to touch people when I am angry. Soon I finish being angry and I am happy again. Thanks! Helen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kazzen161 Report post Posted March 2, 2009 (edited) Being Angry: Sometimes I feel angry. It's OK to be angry. - maybe stick to "Feel angry" rather than "be" When I feel angry I can find a space. - what is a space? best to have a specific safe place for him to go to. When he "finds it" what should he do? I will try to use words. - a bit broad - they might not be very nice words - lol! What do you want him to say? I don't want to hurt people. I will try not to touch people when I am angry - a bit broad - a touch could mean a cuddle. Soon I finish being angry and I am happy again - he may not stop feeling angry for some time. Are there things he can do if he starts to feel angry? - eg: ask the teacher for help, go and read, etc. Does he know the signs that he is becoming angry/ is angry? He may need a time-out card that the teachers could give him when they see him getting angry - so he can cool off before losing it. Even though he does not want to hurt people, at the time he may not be thinking logically. Are the teachers/TA going to help him learn better ways of responding? I like the book "The Red Beast" - I have used it with 5 year olds. It is not easy to do these stories - I have to do one for a child to cover anger and disruptive behaviour, in the class and in the playground - I haven't worked out how to do all of them in one story - I think I might have to do two. Edited March 2, 2009 by Kazzen161 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squirrel Report post Posted March 5, 2009 Gulp ... this was never going to be easy was it! I'm confused now, between the 'keep it very simple and generalise' and the 'grounds for confusing and being indistinct' Thank you very much for your response Kazzan. I first read through thinking "But he knows what I mean by that" but then I thought *reality check* How much does he actually understand of these things? After all this is Social Development ..... I will come back and think about this /discuss this with you guys once again. Meanwhile the original story is hanging off his peg at preschool, and hanging off the radiator next to his potty at home. He seems to quite like it but has got it confused with a fantastic song we found recently - The Jolly Pirate School "It's OK to be angry, Just don't kick the cat" So now he quotes that at me whenever I mention getting angry! Yes, son, that's all very well, great song - but what ARE you going to do when you get angry? To which he usually says "Say F�RL�T" ("Sorry" in Swedish - we are living in Sweden) We are trying to put something into place so he doesn't have to say "Sorry" quite so often! Helen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kazzen161 Report post Posted March 6, 2009 I always give the draft copy to one or two other people, as they will see things that I can't. I did one two days ago about a school trip, and it worked really well - he even let someone else sit next to the window on the way back, which had been an issue on the last trip. There were three Aspies on the trip altogether, so it was well worth doing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
