Izrada i primena socijalnih priča u radu s mladim osobama s visokofunkcionalnim autizmom iz perspektive studenata

Abstract

High-functioning autism belongs to the group of disorders from the autism spectrum and does not represent a separate nosological category in official diagnostic manuals, although it is very often used informally in research articles. Social stories are one of the many interventions that are recommended in working with people with autism, which contribute to the improvement of their social skills. Stories are created by combining different types of sentences. The aim of this research is to determine the extent to which social stories that students have applied in their work with young people with high-functioning autism meet the set criteria, as well as to examine their social validity. The research included two groups of participants – six subjects with high-functioning autism and 46 final-year undergraduate students of the Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation, study program Special Education and Rehabilitation of Persons with Mental Disabilities. The analysis has shown that all stories met the criteria related to the following two questions: Does the story provide answers to the questions what, when, how, and why? Does it contain illustrations that correspond to the meaning of the text? In most stories, positive lan- guage formulations and first- or third-person singular addresses were used. Based on the results, it can be concluded that students’ experiences with this type of intervention are mostly positive. The results of this research show that the stories mostly meet the recommended criteria and that their structure is in line with those presented in foreign research. Additionally, the research results send an encouraging message to professionals to try their hand at creating and applying social stories. Future research should plan a more detailed assessment of targeted be- haviors, measuring effects, their duration, as well as the possibility of generalizing acquired skills.