Siobhan Timmins – författare

Social Stories™ are acknowledged as a very successful way of teaching concepts and social understanding to children with autism spectrum disorders, but considerable skill is needed to write the most effective story. This clear and engaging book introduces ways of thinking about the issues your child finds difficult, and includes 32 stories created by Dr Siobhan Timmins for her son during his early years, with helpful explanations of how she did it, and what the underlying thinking was behind each set of stories.She explains how the stories build upon each other to help the child to understand further, more complex topics, and how to see the connections so that you can best help your child. From basic skills such as learning to listen, wait and share, to common fears, this book takes the mystery out of creating effective Social Stories™ and amply demonstrates how to put together a cohesive set of stories which your child can understand and relate to.

As children grow up and spend more and more time away from home in schools and colleges, life often seems to get increasingly complicated. Autism makes the challenges they meet in these new environments even more difficult to navigate. Social Stories™ is a highly regarded strategy that parents and teachers can use to help young people with autism understand the new social situations they face during this time. Writing an effective Story takes a special set of skills, and in this fully illustrated book Dr Siobhan Timmins explains how to acquire and hone these techniques and put them into practice.Following on from her book on writing Social Stories™ for young children, this book on the next age group up includes 160 illustrations and clear examples based on the author's own experiences of raising a son with autism. She explains how to identify the underlying issues, and articulate the key ideas so that young learners can find connections between Stories to build a greater understanding of relationships, the adult world and their own identity. The book is an invaluable guide to creating bridges between young people and the parts of life they find most difficult.

The first book to explain how to use an adult form of Social Stories™ to support autistic young adults. It focuses on some of the most common issues that arise as they enter the adult world, such as applying for a job, looking after physical and mental health, and staying safe in a new home.Siobhan Timmins explores what can lead to particularly problematic situations, and shows how to construct effective stories that can enlarge understanding and reshape thinking to help young adults with autism approach the world in a confident and constructive way.The stories engage with the various stages of applying for a job, adjusting to a work environment, maintaining physical and mental health, and staying safe. Along with the sample stories are explanations of how to create your own story to develop further understanding and draw connections between each story and the issues they explore. From practical skills such as dressing for an interview, to identifying emotions and recognising symptoms of depression, this book takes Social Stories™ a major step further and adapts them to the realities of adult life.