Currently, I am working with a young man named “Fred” who is struggling to engage with new people. In particular, he is fearful of participating in basic greetings like “Hello” and “Goodbye”. This refusal has obvious interpersonal consequences. I have created the following social story (this is our second trip to 711), which I will give to the family to review a few days before our session. Upon our return from our last trip, Fred and I cartooned the way we felt during the interaction with the 711 clerk. Fred shared that it felt “Half and Half” which he later explained meant, “not terrible but not so comfortable”. The progress last week was eye contact with the clerk and and pinky wave 🙂 (i’ll take it). This week we’re going for a full hand wave and maybe even a quiet “Hey”.

The intention of this preparatory social story is to help Fred to know “what’s coming” and to provide him with a plan that he can rely on. In addition, by allowing for many different forms of greetings (like the wave instead of the vocalized “hello”), I am allowing Fred to gradually gain comfort with the complexness of the greeting process.

Check it out. Again, this whiteboard application can be downloaded for FREE on tablets (It’s called “JOT”).