Stealing Social Story

Use a short social story to discuss belongings and borrowing, then rehearse asking permission, returning an item and paying for things in a shop.
Grades
Not Grade Specific
Pages
15
File type
PDF
Preparation
Print ready

Updated Jan 13, 2024

Subject
Special Education Needs (SEN), Social Skills
Topic
Stealing, Property boundaries
Preparation
Print ready

Product description

From the author

Social story to support children who have been stealing from others to help them understand that it is inappropriate, it encourages them to ask others if they can borrow things that they like the look of but helps them understand that it must be returned and that they cannot just take things without asking first.
The point of a social story is to use a patient and reassuring tone to teach children about social situations in a way that can be easily understood. Social stories can be useful for any child who is struggling to understand a situation or concept or needs help to understand a social skill or social cue, expectations, perspectives, common responses or is troubled about an upcoming event but social stories are particularly useful for children on the autistic spectrum for whom social cues can be challenging and who often suffer anxiety if they do not know what to expect from a situation.
These books should be used over and over to reinforce the point so I would suggest either putting the pages into a display book or laminating and binding them.

Included is a 15 page PDF social story
Clipart images courtesy of Kari Bolt Clip Art

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Recognize that taking something that does not belong to you is called stealing.

  • Identify borrowing (asking first, returning after use) as an alternative to taking something without permission.

  • Understand that items in a shop must be paid for rather than taken.

Teaching tips

  • Read the story repeatedly over time rather than once, in keeping with the social-story format's design for reinforcement — consider laminating or binding the pages for repeated use.

  • Use the story's own three-part structure (wanting something / stealing vs. borrowing / the shopping context) as natural pause points for discussion.

  • Pair with a real or role-played borrowing scenario so the child can practice the story's suggested alternative (asking, then returning the item).

Skills covered

  • Recognizing the concept and consequences of stealing.

  • Distinguishing between stealing and borrowing with permission.

  • Applying the same concept specifically to a shopping/store context.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What can students practice after reading?

Role-play asking to borrow a classroom object, waiting for permission and returning it when finished. Discuss what to do if the owner says no.

No reviews yet

Downloaded this resource? Tell other teachers how it went.

Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • Social story

  • Stealing vs. borrowing

  • Social-emotional learning

Explore related searches

More to explore

You may also like