Comic Strip Conversations: Illustrated interactions that teach conversation skills to students with autism and related disorders: Improving social ... and other developmental disabilities

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Think about ways to aid comprehension – would adding questions help, or replacing some text with blanks for the person to fill in? Comic strip conversations can be used to plan for a situation in the future that may be causing anxiety or concern, for example an exam or a social event. Comic strip conversations, created by Carol Gray, are simple visual representations of conversation.

If it is for a situation where a particular outcome is not guaranteed, use words like ‘sometimes’ and ‘usually’ in the story. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Carol Gray combines stick-figures with conversation symbols to illustrate what people say and think during conversations.

Carol is the director of The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding, a non-profit organization that serves people with ASD, and currently works privately with students, parents, and professionals in a variety of educational and vocational settings. Children can also recognise that, although people say one thing, they may think something quite different another concept foreign to concrete-thinking children. By providing information about what might happen in a particular situation, and some guidelines for behaviour, you can increase structure in a person's life and thereby reduce anxiety. Children can also recognize that, although people say one thing, they may think something quite different―another concept foreign to "concrete-thinking" children. Present the social story to the person at a time when everyone is feeling calm and relaxed, using a straightforward approach, eg I have written this story for you.

Start with small talk (for example, talking about the weather) to get the person you are supporting familiar with drawing while talking and to mimic ordinary social interactions.Comic strip conversations are a technique developed by Carol Gray to help people with autism develop greater social understanding. Try asking the person with autism to select the materials that they would like to use for their comic strip conversations. It's important to present the information in a way which allows for unexpected changes to a situation. Guidelines on introducing and using social stories effectively, so that they produce the benefits you intend.