Prosocial or skill-building media list

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Yes, there would be hundreds of options for digital social stories... and many more ways to do them the old fashioned way. I got Pictello on recommendation from my son's speech therapist. it suits us because it's directly on his ipad which never leaves his side and also easy for us to make a quick story (all the photos are on his ipad, or we just take a picture with the camera there).
Momsparky, I liked the look of the britely link you posted, does that have sound (ie. the text spoken)? That would be a consideration for some, if the kids can't read. I've never used powerpoint, but I think from what I've seen of it that may be the case as well? Before we got the pictello, we would just use word on the computer with regular boardmaker pics, or photos and laminate them. So good though to have all the social stories, communication programme (proloquo2go), games and educational apps in one place ie. the ipad which goes between home and school.
Sorry, for going off track a bit

That was my first thought as well - the sound. Plus I definitely see the benefit of having something that's engineered specifically for this need; I just noticed the similarities in these other programs. I don't see sound on Britely, but I am fairly certain you can stick an mp3 file in a PowerPoint presentation. It would be a matter of knowing how to record sounds on your computer.

Does your app come preprogrammed with some artwork you can use to start with?

Hi mom sparky, no it doesn't come with artwork in the app. It has a tutorial on how to make the stories and a couple of sample stories. As you write each page of the story, the app prompts you to either find an image from your iPad stock or to take a photo at that time. If you are going to take a photo, you don't need to exit the app to do so. Hope that made sense, I am really technologically slow, so for me it's good. I would have no idea how to add an mp3 file to anything!

Good deal - actually, a step-by-step tutorial to make a social story is certainly worth paying for, it's a common question here on WP.

The tutorial is to do with the tech side of writing a social story using the app, ie how to use the program rather than the actual content you could/should use and how to write it.

Just found a book for DS when I was looking for something else, I highly recommend it. http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Social-Dete ... 934575712/ It's called Diary of a Social Detective, and it is social skills written like (and at the reading level) the Encyclopedia Brown stories.

This is stuff that works for my son, I'm making him read it even if he's mildly annoyed at reading yet another book of this type. What I really, really liked about this book was that there was a chapter on a kid being bullied and how his social communication made him a prime target...and then the next chapter was about the bully and how he didn't realize he wasn't being "funny" and "cool." It really gives kids a chance to look at their deficits from the outside. It does get a little therapist-speaky at times, but mostly it is very, very clear and details the social communication breakdowns carefully via visual cues.

My husband said it's a little bit like medical scenarios, in that you have to be able to generalize afterwards for it to be helpful, but it's a great start and talking point.

As for the book I was looking for - I was trying to find a book for an NT "ex-friend" (my son's words) to help them understand why he behaves the way he does, hopefully a biography. It's spectacularly difficult to find when you have a kid who covers it up pretty well - most of the books I've found are written by kids who either don't care about social issues and therefore don't write about them, or who are more severely affected by autism. Any suggestions?

I can't remember if this thread covers all age levels, but here are two preschool shows that my 7 yo really enjoys. I originally put them on for my 3 yo twins, but DS is always drawn in, and even says, "Mom, I think Daniel Tiger could really help me with my Aspergers." !

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood -- seems to be a modern take on Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood, it even has the trolley and musical references to the original. Has a lot of content about things like feelings and learning to turn a bad day around

Pocoyo -- a funny claymation that touches on friendship and how the characters are feeling

Just found this wonderful show after perusing the blog Mom-NOS looking for something else. It is specific to social skill building, basically a social story in every episode. If you read the information, it's been designed with social skills in mind in general, and kids with spectrum issues in specific. ETA: I will say that it does rely on stereotypes a little too heavily, so it's not really a tool that will help people understand kids on the spectrum. However, because the stereotypes are so broad and clear, it may help kids on the spectrum understand how they appear on the outside. I'd be curious how kids respond.

I am sad that DS will probably consider himself "too old" for it, but - if it works - I think the best thing we can do for our kids is make it popular! Lots of kids need this!

http://www.flummoxandfriends.com/watch-the-show/ (Flummox and Friends)

Yay! CommonSense Media has created a list of resources just for special needs kids!

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/guide/special-needs?

Dungeons and Dragons is awesome! I wish I had discovered it younger, instead of being in college where the game is, frankly, about seeing how much beer you can swill and how stupid you can act. It teaches a lot of things-- cooperative play, imagination, critical thinking, not to mention mathematics.

Playing by the Second Edition rules is more complicated, but also better for teaching math. Lots of adding and subtracting.

I have to make sure it's a family pursuit-- not something I turn on to entertain them so I can get something done-- but Naruto is actually pretty pro-social. It's an anime, so it's violent and sexualized (although less sexualized than most), but there's still some good stuff. If I leave them to watch it alone, I get cool ninja moves and lecherous comments, so I don't do that. If we all watch together, we get cool lessons about hard work and perseverance, liking yourself in the face of everyone's fear and rejection, what happens to you when you let the evil around you dictate your behavior, the power of love in the face of evil, and et cetera.

My kids all liked Dragon Tales from PBS. It is a preschool show, but my two older kids (homeschooled, one HFA, one ADHD) both liked it until they were around 8-9. Each episode focuses on a problem like one of the kids wanted to be bossy all the time and how that made the others feel. Or one of the kids was smaller than the others and felt bad because he was getting left behind. One of the dragons has trouble standing up for herself. Another one is scared of a lot of things. The two headed dragon has sibling arguments frequently. They work on following directions, working together, being good friends to each other, sharing, etc.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Sims games for wii, or nintendo ds. They are child friendly, and have really helped Daisy. In the games in addition to problem solving, there are lots of character interactions that are multiple choice. The choice the player makes is reflected in how the person they're speaking with reacts. IE, if Daisy is trying to get a character to help her, she learns the better choice is to be complimentary (you seem really good at this), than demanding (you need to do this for me now!). There are several titles, we have them all,lol.

My Sims
My Sims Kingdom
My Sims Agents

Daisy is 11 now and still plays them, we discovered My Sims when she was 8 or so. Hope this helps someone!

Per request, these are the "short" videos on YouTube we use as rewards/education support, in order of my personal preference. Please keep in mind that not all of them are appropriate for all viewers (though I don't think any of them violate YouTube's TOS)

minutephysics
Vihart
SmarterEveryDay
numberphile
crashcourse
VSauce (this sometimes gets into pop culture more than I prefer)

Also BBC has a great website for adult learners that has all kinds of stuff on it we use: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise

Khan Academy has all kinds of educational videos as well (Vi Hart actually does some for them.)

Also, we like Geek & Sundry, some of which is very adult, but there are gems there if you screen for them. I particularly like TableTop, which models good game-playing behavior (though with adult language, so be aware of that.)

Oh, I also wanted to mention the book Wonder, by RJ Palacio

It's not about AS, it's about a boy with a facial deformity who otherwise has no special needs entering middle school after being homeschooled. The reason it's been a good book for us: DS really identified strongly with the main character and was furious about the bullying - but the book shifts and re-tells the story from a number of different perspectives. Very helpful in having DS view things from something other than a good guy/bad guy perspective.

Many thanks to the awesome MomSparky for starting this thread! Most of the suggestions seem to be for younger kids. Any good tips for older teens (especially girls)?

So, my last few posts are more appropriate for older kids. One of the things DS is getting out of them: nerdy kids grow up to be scientists. Vi Hart, in particular (whose face you never see,) is a good model for that. (Not to say anything about her neurology.)

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog has some great prosocial messages in it - it's got a little adult content. Felicia Day is a great nerd-girl role model and has several projects going that might interest your daughter. Also, the blog Epbot often talks about nerd-girls and shows a real, positive role model. (Again, not about neurology - but I can see where these are good role models for girls on the spectrum.)

Star Trek TNG and Deep Space Nine...

I'm still working on the media part; we're just entering the teen years - but I do have several book suggestions (Wonder being the big one.) We also liked Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (has a female main character,) The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff. I like these books because the characters are different, but are not on the autism spectrum; you learn the same things about difference and getting along without getting hammered over the head with something our kids live with every day (besides that, every kid has their own particular way of expressing autism)

That said, we read John Elder Robeson's books about being on the spectrum together as a family (I don't think gender was an issue)