A rule-based theoretical account of social stories to address the double empathy problem

Camilleri, Louis John; Maras, Katie; Brosnan, Mark

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1085355

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 99 publications

(177 reference statements)

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“…This provides some support for the suggestion that systemising plays an important role in the effectiveness of SS for autistic people. That is, SS provide rules and patterns which help to predict behaviour, and thus utilise a strength for input-operation-output relationships and a preference for explicit rule-based communication ( 29 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reviews of the SS literature have highlighted that little is known regarding the underlying psychological mechanisms related to SS effectiveness ( 15 , 28 ). Camilleri et al ( 29 ) suggest that the explicit structure of SS may make uncertain situations more predictable for autistic CYP whilst building upon relative autistic strengths in “systemizing”. Systemizing is the drive to identify lawful regularities (often causal) that govern the input-operation-output relationships ( 30 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SS can focus on relevant details of a situation (the input), describe a manipulation of the situation (the operation), and then explain the outcome (the output). From this perspective, SS can be seen as a strength-based approach to supporting autism ( 29 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Supporting autistic communities through parent-led and child/young person-led digital social story interventions: an exploratory study

Camilleri,

Maras,

Brosnan

2024

Front. Digit. Health

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IntroductionSocial Stories (SS) is a socially-valid intervention for autistic children and young people (CYP) which is used widely by professionals and parents. Research suggests that whilst parents are in an ideal position to deliver interventions for their autistic CYP, a lack of procedural integrity can result in a great deal of variability in parent-mediated intervention outcomes.MethodsThis exploratory study investigated the extent to which SS can be effectively developed and delivered, through digital mediation, by parents with little to no researcher input (n = 17, sample 1) and the factors that impact effectiveness. Furthermore, the study also investigated the extent to which digitally-mediated SS can support autistic CYP to develop and deliver their own stories, thereby utilising the intervention as a means for self-support and self-management (n = 5, sample 2).ResultsThe outcomes of the study indicate that digital mediation can effectively support parent-led SS intervention. Findings also indicate that receptive/expressive language skills of autistic CYP, their level of systemizing, as well as the practice of consulting with the autistic CYP whilst identifying goals and developing stories, are individual and procedural characteristics which positively influence the effectiveness of the parent-led intervention. The study also found that digitally-mediated SS can be utilised as a self-support tool by autistic CYP themselves.DiscussionThe results inform the developing literature on digital interventions and support tools that aim to engage with, and involve further, the autistic community in the setting and authoring of interventions and research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Supporting autistic communities through parent-led and child/young person-led digital social story interventions: an exploratory study

Camilleri,

Maras,

Brosnan

2024

Front. Digit. Health

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“…The Social Stories intervention consists of narratives that are aimed toward supporting the transfer of information between the authors of the stories and the audience ( 23 ), which are typically autistic children and adolescents, though non-autistic children can also benefit from the intervention ( 24 , 25 ). The development of a story starts by identifying a title and a goal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The initial guidelines proposed by Gray and Garand ( 20 ) highlighted the importance of crafting stories from the child’s perspective. Over time, guidelines related to the style and format of the stories have evolved ( 23 ). Presently, the guidelines for composing Social Stories have advanced to their third version and consist of a set of ten criteria which aim to explain the process of developing the story as well as the story’s structure ( 26 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective digital support for autism: digital social stories

Camilleri,

Maras,

Brosnan

2024

Front. Psychiatry

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Social Stories™ is one of the most popular interventions for autistic children and has been researched extensively. However, effectiveness data has been gathered mainly through single-participant designs which generate outcomes which can lack generalizability and social validity. Stories Online For Autism (SOFA) is a digital application which supports the development and delivery of Social Stories in a real-world setting and has the potential to contribute toward furthering (1) Social Stories research and (2) research on digital applications for autism by gathering large data sets from multiple participants. Three data sets (N = 856) were gathered through the SOFA app and were analyzed to investigate three key variables: What predicted closeness-to-goal of the Social Stories (as rated by an adult/parent/guardian, n = 568); the child’s comprehension of the Social Stories (assessed by story comprehension questions, n = 127); and the child’s rating of the enjoyability of the Social Stories (n = 161). A merged data set then investigated correlations between these three key variables. Age range (≤15), gender, autism diagnosis, and the child’s level of language understanding were the potential predictors for these three key variables. Regression analysis indicated that parental closeness-to-goal ratings for their children were highest for children who were younger and more verbal. Regression analysis also indicated that older children scored higher in comprehension assessment, and autistic children rated the Social Stories as more enjoyable. Closeness-to-goal, comprehension scores and enjoyment ratings did not significantly correlate with each other. This is the largest study of Social Stories effectiveness, which was enabled through the collection of data through a digital app from multiple participants. The results indicate that digital social stories are particularly effective for younger verbal children. While this was the case for all children, it was particularly true for autistic children and female (and gender-diverse) children. For the first time, the gathering of large digital data sets has highlighted that while digital Social Stories can be effective for autistic males, they can be more effective for autistic females and gender-diverse autistic individuals. Thus, the SOFA app can support the investigation of the factors which influence Social Stories outcomes that are generalizable and with high social validity.

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Neurodiversity in Practice: a Conceptual Model of Autistic Strengths and Potential Mechanisms of Change to Support Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing in Autistic Children and Adolescents

Cherewick¹,

Matergia²

2023

Adv Neurodev Disord

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Objectives Neurodiversity affirming frameworks are a paradigm shift from a deficit-focused approach to autism to recognizing autism as a heterogeneous constellation of differences in abilities and strengths. This article completed a literature review and data synthesis to (1) identify autistic strengths used in the design of psychosocial interventions, (2) propose mechanisms of change that explain strength-based psychosocial intervention effects on mental health and wellbeing outcomes, and (3) integrate findings in a conceptual model for testing in future research studies. Methods A search for articles was completed in June 2023 and resulted in 24 articles that met the inclusion criteria. The Distillation and Matching Model methods were used to code articles and subsequent conceptual groupings generated categorical domains included in the conceptual model. Results Autistic strengths identified in the design of psychosocial interventions were grouped into four domains: (1) perceptual, (2) reasoning, (3) expertise, and (4) character strengths. Mechanisms of change were grouped into four domains: (1) affective, (2) behavioral, (3) cognitive, and (4) physiological. The resulting conceptual model presents autistic strengths that can be leveraged in psychosocial interventions and potential mechanisms of change that explain intervention effects on mental health and wellbeing. Conclusions Growing focus on the translation of positive psychology has resulted in strength-based psychosocial intervention programs. However, intervention strategies have not leveraged the diverse array of autistic strengths identified by autistic individuals, their families, and their communities. Furthermore, research is needed to determine mechanistic paths by which strength-based interventions achieve positive effects on mental health outcomes in autistic children and adolescents.

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A rule-based theoretical account of social stories to address the double empathy problem

Cited by 9 publications

References 99 publications

Supporting autistic communities through parent-led and child/young person-led digital social story interventions: an exploratory study

Supporting autistic communities through parent-led and child/young person-led digital social story interventions: an exploratory study

Effective digital support for autism: digital social stories

Neurodiversity in Practice: a Conceptual Model of Autistic Strengths and Potential Mechanisms of Change to Support Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing in Autistic Children and Adolescents

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