Social Stories
Do you need an individual “bushfire social story” for a person you know with autism or communication disability?
“Social stories” are visual supports that can help people with communication disability to understand what is happening during the bushfires, impact, and recovery.
Visual supports might help the person in evacuation, relocation, emergency warnings, smoke behaviours, long periods of waiting, not having access to their preferred items, or fearing for family who are fighting fires. Showing basic pictured information in a sequence with plain language can help to reassure the person and keep them calm.
There are a number of ways we can assist you in accessing social stories and visual aids.
Option 1: Please reply to the pinned tweet of speech pathologist Professor Bronwyn Hemsley (CLICK HERE) or email Bronwyn Bronwyn.hemsley@uts.edu.au to make a request privately. From there, the free resources will be developed using Google Docs and Spreadsheets, and uploaded so that any person can access and modify them to their individual needs. If you want to help to make the visual supports, or provide photos for the ‘bushfire social stories’, please reply to Bronwyn’s pinned tweet or send an email.
Option 2: Contact your current Speech Therapist to assist in developing a social story about your situation
Option 3: If you would like to speak to someone directly, please contact my office on 02 9159 9325 or senator.hughes@aph.gov.au