June 16, 2008

ARTICLES: Digital Stories Targeting Social Skills for Children With Disabilities

Digital Stories Targeting Social Skills for Children With Disabilities

Posted on: Saturday, 14 June 2008, 03:00 CDT

By More, Cori

Many children learn easily by watching others, imitating actions, and cuing into subtle social cues. However, some students with disabilities have trouble acquiring these social skills. These children require a more intensive intervention to make gains in the social area. For students who have difficulties initiating and maintaining interactions, teachers can implement more structure in the environment to gain a student's interest and encourage peer interactions. One strategy that meets these two criteria is the use of social stories. This article describes how digital technology can provide a multidimensional forum for the creation and implementation of social stories. Keywords: social stories; autism; multimedia; communication; technology

Children are constantly learning and developing. By interacting with their environment, children form opinions and concepts about the world. When opportunities arise, they test the concepts, practice new skills, and develop theories to find patterns and make sense of the world (Jensen, 1998). Many children are able to learn by watching others, imitating actions, and cuing into subtle social cues. However, some students with disabilities have trouble acquiring these social skills (Brown, 2001; Hall, Peterson, Webster, Bolen, & Brown, 1999; Odom et al., 1999). These children require a more intensive intervention to make gains in the social area.

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