Visual Helping Strategies for Children and Youth

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SFNFCI hosted Creating Social Stories that Work! on March 10, 2022 at Prairieland Park.  Dr. Cassandra Philips provided a 1-day customized training for children and youth workers to help learn more about using visuals to enhance communication abilities. 

13 attendees from 5 group homes across Saskatchewan brought their computers and participated in an interactive hands-on development of their own social story.  Each attendee received several resources to take back to their group home and many skills and tips to creating social stories with their children and youth.

Learning objectives included:

• Defining Social Story and Social Script and when to use them
• How to write a Social Story and Social Script
• Samples of Social Stories and Social Scripts for review and critique in small groups
• Hands-on writing of Social Story (laptop required)
•  Time will be allocated for Q and A throughout

What everyone did on March 10:

• Participant’s constructed social story template that can be customized for future use
• Resource package that includes books and practical tools to support participant’s further learning
• Certificate of completion and exciting door prizes
• Collectively discussed ways to Support children with developmental disability and/or challenging behaviours

This training was funded by the Disabilities Initiative Fund from Indigenous Services Canada.  SFNFCI hosted a 7-part Autism Learning Series Nov.-Dec. 2021 where SFNFCI learned about creating social stories to assist in communication.  Dr. Cassandra Philips was one of the presenters and agreed to offer a 1 day customized Creating Social Stories Workshop.  A big Thank you to ISC for funding and Dr. Phillips for sharing her experience and skills in helping create social stories that work!  

Comments from attendees,

 “It will help the children we work with understand in a visual, simple form of what is being asked of them” Carolyn Singer, Child Support Worker, Saskatoon Tribal Council Inc.

 “This training has given me tools to create social stories for different scenarios and some great resources to access materials” Sarah Nieblas, Home Team Leader, Creative Options Regina

For more information on Disability Initiatives at SFNFCI please contact Shelley Thomas Prokop, Director of Programs, shelley@sfnfci.ca