Thanksgiving comes in many shapes in sizes across families and how they celebrate the holiday, especially with Covid-19. Navigating the waters of family meals, different foods, and changes in schedule can be overwhelming for those who have difficulty with a change in routine. We want to share with you a useful tool to use when changes are coming….a social story!

Social stories are a tool used to portray information about a specific social situation that a child may find confusing or scary. Social stories have been used to help children understand a variety of topics including:

· Losing a tooth

· First day of school

· Getting a new baby brother or sister

· How to respond to a bully

· Going to a birthday party

· Regulating emotions

The information in the social story is designed to help a child understand an event or social situation and give them additional information on how what may happen and how to respond. The best part of a social story is they are SIMPLE! This means you can easily create your own to make it fit the situation and your child or client.

Once you have found a social story you believe would be beneficial you follow the following steps:

· Sit in a quiet area and remove distractions (e.g., turn off the TV, remove extra toys)

· State the topic of the story, for example “Thanksgiving is coming! Let’s read about what it might look like!”

· Read the social story

· Discuss main parts of the story

Social stories should be implemented before an event or social situation occurs to prepare the child for what is coming. Thanksgiving can be a great time to practice using a social story at home by reading it once or twice a week to prepare your kiddos for the changes in plans.

Link to a Thanksgiving Social Story PDF: http://www.positivelyautism.com/downloads/Thanksgiving_SocialSkillStory.pdf