Mi Stories: Social Story Videos for iTouch and Video iPod

Kencrest's autism support includes a new listing of videos called "Mi Stories". They are under the autism video link and can be downloaded off the site. The set of 8 videos feature topics including:

Getting dressed, Going to the grocery store, Going to the restaurant, Riding in the car, etc.

To my understanding, you cannot download these off iTunes - you must purchase them with Paypal off the Kencrest site. You can see a preview video and read more here.

Here is an excerpt from their press release:

"Plymouth Meeting, PA - Mi-Stories were created by Debbie Lord of Harleysville, Pa, a Speech Language Pathologist who directs Health, Clinical and program supports; and KenCrest Center and are designed as brief social scenarios that focus on everyday activities. The videos, ranging from 2 – 4 minutes in length, will target communication and social behavior in community settings. They can be viewed on an iPod to allow an adolescent or adult with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental disabilities to easily watch them and learn the appropriate social behavior in a variety of different situations. The stories can also show the viewer what to expect in certain situations.

Mi-Stories utilize modeling, social scripting, and visual strategies to help target appropriate communication, behavior and social skills. There are numerous stories available including going to the grocery store, going to a restaurant, calming, getting dresses, crossing the street, riding in the car, as well as a video on how to use the iPod and a parent training protocol. More stories will be available soon.

Mi-Stories came about as Debbie Lord was asked to develop social stories for individuals served by KenCrest’s transition age after-school program, EDUCARE. “We were developing stories to help these kids, many of who are kids with autism, understand the appropriate things to do and how to act in certain situations.” Lord said. KenCrest received several grants to help with this project.

The Mi-Stories work in numerous ways. People with disabilities are able to watch the stories and hear and see appropriate behavior and social interaction. They also hear a scripted social scenario that describes how to act and interact all while watching the story. Also, with the iPod, the story can be utilized right before or during the activity, if necessary.

Debbie Lord has made presentations on Mi-Stories at the American Speech Language and Hearing Association in 2008 and 2009 and the Council for Exceptional Children National and Sate conference in 2009 and will make numerous other presentations over the next year."

All the best,

Lon

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Using PDA's and Handhelds for Teaching Social Skills

I received an email the other day from a school psychologist asking about using pda's for teaching social skills to students with emotional, learning and other disabilities like autism.

She referred me to an article in The Boston Globe (link here). The article described studies on the impact of a specially-designed software for the pda with social behavior cues on the social interaction of autistic teens that were high functioning, but with social issues.

The study used three separate pieces to implement the training:

1. The use of "reminders" on the pda that shared things like, "Stay on the conversational topic - don't ramble", "Let others get a word in edge-wise", "Listen to what others are saying", etc.

2. The use of a daily rating system that the student and the teacher used to record success in remembering the skills.

3. A pda journal or log where the student could report emotional states during the day and vent out anger, loneliness, frustrations, etc.

The students shared that by doing this, they were remembering better what they needed to do. By logging their feelings, they were able to get them out and let go of them. The rating system helped students and teachers compare progress and the study was showing that the ratings by both groups lined up pretty consistently.

The article shared that this program is showing support and some conditioning pieces happening for kids - but that it is not meant to be a "cure" for autism or any other disorder. It remains to be seen exactly what the impact will be.

I am going to use this basic idea and see what I can come up with on one of our older Palms we have sitting in the office. I would like to get it going for a student referral that our psych department has said could use something like this .

I'll let you know how it goes.

All the best to you!

Lon