Social Stories or manipulation and coercion?

As a parent, you have probably heard a professional recommend “social stories”.

It appears to be the first go-to approach for many. Whilst these can be useful for some children in some contexts they can actually be very harmful in others.

Why?

👉 Because often autistic children with an average to high IQ will quickly identify a professional's blatant attempts to manipulate their behaviour which will often exacerbate the situation. In these situations, the concept of social stories is fundamentally flawed because it’s an attempt to make autistic children communicate in a non-authentic fashion. It’s basically forcing autistic children to hide their true identity which results in masking. Here the trauma cycle commences and continues of masking, trauma, masking, trauma. These layers upon layers of trauma heaped onto an individual into adulthood often result in mental health conditions, addiction, substance misuse, suicide.

What can we do?

💡 Instead of professionals imposing their “social stories” onto the neuro divergent child why don’t they start delivering it to the child’s non autistic peers within the classroom? Why don’t they attempt to reduce the stigma by creating awareness to everyone of the different neuro types and thought processes of the human mind?

✅ This is a true form of #earlyintervention which will promote equality before children reach the age of double digits meaning they are more likely to be open to acceptance of others as they grow into adulthood.

Here is a link to some fantastic books