Running head: AFIRM MODULE 1

AFIRM Module

Dolores A. Collins

Brandman University

EDUU 676: Program and Strategies 1

Dr. Nicole Nicholson

December 14, 2018

AFIRM Module

The Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) module I chose to complete was Social Narratives

(SN). “Social narratives describe social situations for learners with ASD by providing relevant

cues, explanation of the feelings and thoughts of others in the social situation, and descriptions of

appropriate behavior expectations” (Sam & AFIRM Team, 2015, p. 2). There are several types of

social narratives, but the module only focuses on the two that met the evidence-based criteria.

These two include social stories and power cards. They are both individually contoured to meet

the needs of the individual with ASD.

Evidence & Research

There was no evidence to show that social narratives works for individuals between the

ages of 0-2 years. Social narratives are shown to be effective with individual’s ages 3-22 years

old, which is from preschool through high school. Reviews have indicated that social narratives,

along with 17 single case design studies, meets the evidence-based practice criteria. This is

included in the 2014 EBP report and social narratives addresses social, communication, joint

attention, academic outcomes, social adaptive, play, and school readiness. (Sam & AFIRM

Team, 2015). There is evidence to show that social stories and power cards have been successful

with individuals with ASD, so the module describes both in detail and provides resources to

begin implementing these practices.

Reason for Choosing EBP

The reason I chose this evidence-based practice is because one of my students with ASD

responded well to the Powtoon that I created for this course. I believe creating social stories

would be visually appealing and would also provide the steps for my student in a very creative

way. I would like to create a social story on how to speak appropriately to adults and peers
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because he can come across very rude and the tone of his voice can be very harsh. He has

difficulty making eye contact when he speaks and his body language comes across closed off

because he will cross his arms and look away from the person speaking to him. I believe a social

story on how to appropriately speak and show him how his body language should be when

speaking to others would be beneficial for him. Social stories can use, descriptive, perspective,

cooperative, affirmative, and directive sentences. It will be important that I make sure the social

stories uses 2 to 5 describing sentences for every direct sentence that I use. (Sam & AFIRM

Team, 2015).

I would also like to create power cards for him using the characters he like to draw and

write about to assist him with the Boys Town social skills he is currently learning. All the Boys

Town lessons have steps to them and I think this would be a creative way to assist him with

learning the steps and reminding him the order of the steps. The skill we are currently working

on have 3-4 steps for each skill. For example, following instructions include looking at the

person, saying okay, doing what is ask of you right away and last to check back. He has a copy

of the steps, but it is not appealing to him and this could contribute to why he does not make it a

priority to learn the steps. I think that having pictures of his favorite cartoon characters next to

the steps on a card would spark his interest more. I would like to begin though with create social

stories using his favorite characters to act out the appropriate way to speak and show body

language. I also want these stories to explain why this skill is so important. I think he would be

more prone to listen and understand the story if it is presented in a way that is appealing to him.

Implementing This EBP

I would like to implement both social stories and power cards with my student right

away. My class has already been taking baseline data on his aggressive tone when he speaks to
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us and when he folds his arms and physically turns away from us when we are speaking to him.

This is because the BCBA was in the process of trying to figure out the best intervention to

address these areas with him. I would request this data from the BCBA for the purpose of

implementing this particular intervention. I would begin by filling out social story and power

card planning worksheet with the pertinent information on the target skills. After creating the

social stories and power cards, my staff and I can all keep track of his progress on the social

stories monitoring form. If I find that there is not a decrease in his behavior from the data, then I

will look over the implantation checklist to make sure there was not an area that I missed. If I

did, I will add that area and continue collecting and reading the data.

Collaborative Practice

To make this intervention easier to implement, because the program I work in has a

BCBA, who is certified in a number of evidence-based practices, I would turn to him for

assistance. It would be beneficial to request his expertise on what steps to take to implement this

EBP correctly for my student. I would present my idea to him and let him know that my team

and I would like the daily observation data we have been collecting on this particular student. I

have a great team of four technicians that support my classroom and students. There will always

be someone there who can review the social stories with him when he comes off the bus, before

he goes to music class, and before we begin social skills lessons. This is when we have seen the

most issues with his behavior and attitude.

Since his family is a big support system and can take these training to implement EBPs at

home as well, I think it is important to get his family involved in the process. I would collaborate

with his mother, who I know is very much on board with implementing interventions to help

work on his behavior at home. Mom has expressed that she is dealing with these same behaviors
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at home, so creating a social story for her to implement at home with him would be beneficial

and I feel much more effective in seeing progress. I would how we document data at school and

ask for her help in establishing baseline data at home as well as keeping tracking of how things

are going at home once she implements the practice. I would explain how my team and I would

be doing the same at the school and how it would be helpful to compare data and see if there is

any growth in both environments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, as with any intervention, it will be important to keep up with monitoring

data to make sure I am able to see if there is a decrease in the problem behaviors. If I do not see

the progress that I am looking for, I need to make sure, by using the Implementing Checklist, that

I am not missing any important areas. If I am, then I need to add that in and continue trying the

intervention instead of just giving up on the intervention. I can also check to see if the social

story that I created for my student is comprehensible to him. If he is not understanding what the

story is about or it is not appealing to him, then this could be why it is not effective for him. My

student will be the best indicator of how things will teach him. Inviting his input and truly

knowing my student will be an important factor in making sure that what I am creating will meet

his needs.
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References

Sam, A., & AFIRM Team. (2015). Social narratives. Chapel Hill, NC: National Professional

Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, FPG Child Development Center,

University of North Carolina. Retrieved from http://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/social-narratives