About Carol Gray

Carol Gray, Consultant to Children and Adults with Social Communication Challenges &
President, The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding

Carol Gray works privately as an author, speaker, and consultant to children and adults with autism spectrum disorders and other social communication delays and differences. She is the president of The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding, a non-profit organization serving people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and those working on their behalf. In August of 2004, Carol concluded 22 years of service with Jenison Public Schools, in Jenison, Michigan, where she had worked as a teacher, and later as a consultant, to students with autism spectrum disorders.

Carol initiated and developed the use of Social Stories™ early in 1991. She has written several articles, resources, and chapters on the subject. Carol co-authored the first article describing Social Stories, Social Stories: Improving Responses of Students with Autism with Accurate Social Information, published in Focus on Autism Behavior in April of 1993. Shortly thereafter, Carol edited the first book of Social Stories, The Original Social Story Book (1993), followed by New Social Stories (1994, revised edition 2000). Carol has written several chapters on the topic of Social Stories, including: Teaching Children with Autism to “Read” Social Situations, in Teaching Students with Autism: Methods to Enhance Learning, Communication, and Socialization, a text edited by Dr. Kathy Quill (1995, Delmar Publishers Inc.); Social Assistance, in Higher Functioning Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism, edited by Dr. Ann Fullerton (1996, Pro Ed Inc.); and Social Stories and Comic Strip Conversations, in Asperger Syndrome or High Functioning Autism? a text in the Current Issues in Autism series, edited by Dr. Eric Schopler, Dr. Gary Mesibov, and Dr. Linda Kunce (1998, Plenum Press). In the spring of 1998, Carol developed The Advanced Social Story Workbook, a self-instruction manual for sharing advanced techniques for teaching social understanding. Her video and accompanying workbook, Writing Social Stories with Carol Gray (Future Horizons, 2000), provides a look at the rationale behind Social Stories, and step by step instruction on how to write a Social Story. Carol is also the co-editor of My Social Stories Book (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2002).

Carol has developed a variety of other resources and strategies addressing additional topics related to the education of children and adults with autism spectrum disorders and other social communication challenges. Carol is the author of What’s Next? Educating Students for Success in the Community (1992), Taming the Recess Jungle (1993), and Comic Strip Conversations: Colorful, Illustrated Interactions with Students with Autism and Related Disorders (1994). In addition, Carol previously served for over a decade as the editor of The Jenison Autism Journal (formerly The Morning News, Jenison Public Schools, Jenison, MI and now Autism Spectrum Quarterly), an international newsletter that informally shared information among those working on behalf of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. In was in this journal that her ground-breaking articles on bullying and children with autism spectrum disorders, and childhood losses and learning, first appeared.

Each year, Carol completes several presentations and workshops throughout the world, at autism conferences as well as those focusing on other impairments, for example, Williams Syndrome. She addresses several topics related social understanding, including: 1) the use of basic strategies (including Social Stories™, Comic Strip Conversations™, The Sixth Sense, Pictures of Me, and The Topic Box): 2) how to factor friendship opportunities into the lives of people with social communication challenges; 3) solutions to bullying, and 4) how to turn day-to-day losses into learning opportunities. Carol has received several awards for her work, including the Barbara Lipinski Award for her international contribution to the education and welfare of people with autism spectrum disorders.

Social Stories 10.1

This hands-on workshop uses lecture, demonstration, discussion, activities and practice of new skills to teach the elements of the social understanding interventions developed by Carol Gray. Most notably, participants will be trained in Social Stories 10.1, the first major revision of (the previous) Social Stories 10.0. The Social Storiesä 10.1 training has many new features, including a more detailed rationale, discussion of Social Storyä research and evidence-based practice, the introduction of Story templates, the positive past tense, Sentences that Coach, and an expanded emphasis on gathering information for a Social Storyä, Story format, and emotional and social safety. By the close of this exciting, fun, and fast paced workshop, participants will leave with an updated and more detailed understanding of Social StoriesäConcepts and skills will be applicable for those working with individuals ages 2-adult.

Participants will be able to:

Identify the rationale for the social understanding approaches, in light of new research and insight
Describe a brief history of the Social Storyä approach, including: a) identification of the most frequent Social Storyä myths and misconceptions, b) an explanation of the differences between Social Storiesä 10.0 and Social Storiesä 10.1, and c) the significance and implications of Social Stories 10.1 to the increasing numbers of authors and audiences of Social Storiesä
Write a Social Storyä according to Social Storiesä 10.1, the newly updated, reorganized, and expanded criteria
Write a Social Storyä’from scratch” for a specific person with ASD
Explain how Social Storiesä can be developed to encourage categorization and generalization, and specially designed to address a variety of specific concerns

Time Ordered Agenda

8:30 – 10:00 Rationale and History – Objectives #1-2
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – Noon How to Write a Social Storyä according to the 10.1 Criteria Objectives #3-#5
Noon – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:30 How to Write a Social Storyä according to the 10.1 Criteria Objectives #3-#5 (cont)
2:30 – 2:45 Break
2:45 – 3:45 How to Write a Social Storyä according to the 10.1 Criteria Objectives #3-#5