Carol Gray, president of The Gray Center, first introduced Social Stories in 1991. A Social Story describes a situation, skill, or concept in terms of relevant social cues, perspectives, and common responses in a specifically defined style and format.
The goal is to share accurate social information in a reassuring manner that is understood by its audience.
For the student that I have been working with, I feel that developing a Social Story about personal space will work well for this child. During my observations and from conversations with his teacher we both recognize that this is a big social issue for him. He has a sensory need for touch and feeling of things, particularly hair and skin. It is a comfort for him. He will often sit in my lap or one of his teacher’s laps and play with our hair and/or rub our arms. He often does this to the other children as well, especially during circle time. They often get frustrated with him and tell him to “leave me alone.”
I think a Social Story that discusses personal space will benefit this child. I plan to talk about what is personal space and who has personal space, as well as using some concrete examples to show personal space such as a hula-hoop. In preschool I think we tend to be a little more hands-on especially when it comes to showing affection to our students such as hugging. I think it is a big transition to Kindergarten and older grades when those types of behaviors are not as acceptable. I want him to grasp an understanding of that concept of personal space before he enters school.
References:
Gray, C. What are social stories?. Retrieved from http://www.thegraycenter.org/social-stories/what-are-social-stories
I had a little boy in my class who had the same issues and this type of social story helped him. It said, "I can touch..." and gave him three or four things that he could touch without asking, such as rocks, stuffed toys, blocks, etc. Then it said, "If I want to touch a friend, I have to ask first. Can I touch your hair? If she says yes, I can gently touch her hair. If she says no, I cannot." We would also model asking and reacting to the situation when the answer was no. He learned to ask first before touching, which was the focus of this social story.
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of a hula-hoop to teach children personal space. I have also taught many students with sensory integration disorder. This sounds like an appropriate goal for your student but also all of the students in the class could benefit from the lesson.
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