Social Stories Research Sources & Bibliography

The definitive source for Social Stories™ methodology, criteria, and training.

Official criteria document defining the ten guidelines for creating authentic Social Stories™.

Gray, C. (2015). The New Social Story Book. Future Horizons. The most comprehensive current publication containing over 150 stories with guidance for creating personalized narratives.

Kokina, A., & Kern, L. (2010). Social Story interventions for students with autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(7), 812-826.

The most-cited meta-analysis in the field. Examined 18 studies with 47 participants, finding 51% of outcomes were "highly effective."

McGill, R. J., Baker, D., & Busse, R. T. (2015). Autism Spectrum Disorder and Social Story Research: a Scoping Study of Published, Peer-Reviewed Literature Reviews. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Comprehensive overview of the research landscape, noting only 9% of literature focuses on anxiety/transition applications.

Wahman, C. L., Pustejovsky, J. E., Ostrosky, M. M., & Santos, R. M. (2022). Examining the Effects of Social Stories™ on Challenging Behavior and Prosocial Skills in Young Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education.

Social Story Intervention for Training Expected Behaviors among Preschool Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PMC, 2024.

Hanrahan, R., et al. (2020). A Pilot Randomised Control Trial of Digitally-Mediated Social Stories for Children on the Autism Spectrum. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Found digitally-mediated social stories produced beneficial behavior changes sustained at six-week follow-up.

Digitally-Mediated Social Stories Support Children on the Autism Spectrum Adapting to a Change in a 'Real-World' Context. PMC, 2021.

Cordova, D. I., & Lepper, M. R. (1996). Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning: Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(4), 715-730.

Found that even "instructionally irrelevant" personalization choices produced strong effects on learning and engagement.

Hulleman, C. S., Godes, O., Hendricks, B. L., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2010). Enhancing interest and performance with a utility value intervention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(4), 880-895.

Generative AI in the Classroom: Effects of Context-Personalized Learning Material and Tasks on Motivation and Performance. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 2025.

Making Learning Personally Meaningful: A New Framework for Relevance Research. PMC.

Tager-Flusberg, H. (2007). Evaluating the Theory-of-Mind Hypothesis of Autism. Current Directions in Psychological Science.

Paivio, A. Dual Coding Theory - explains why combining text with illustrations improves comprehension and recall.

A rule-based theoretical account of social stories to address the double empathy problem. Frontiers in Psychology, 2023.

Social Stories™ - Treatment review and recommendations.

What's the Story?: What does the research say about how best to use social stories to help children with ASDs?

A Systematic Review of Effects of Social Stories Interventions for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Guidance for writing and delivering Social Stories (PDF).

Social Stories - Best Practice Resource.

Social stories and autism - practical implementation guide for parents.

How To Write A Social Story (A Step-By-Step Guide).

What Is a Social Story? Featuring Carol Gray.

Social Stories - Applied Behavior Analysis resources and templates.

Effects of social stories intervention for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Reynhout, G., & Carter, M. (2006). Social Stories for children with disabilities.

Using social stories to ease children's transitions.

The Effectiveness of Social Stories among Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Meta-Analysis.