Free Autism Social Story Printables: Five Ready Stories, a Blank Template, and How to Write Your Own

Dr. Andrea Burgio-Murphy, Ph.D.Licensed clinical psychologist & autism specialist October 21, 2026

The free autism social story printables on this site cover five situations that come up constantly in early intervention: hitting, running away, hearing no, changing activities, and using the toilet. Each one is written to Carol Gray's criteria, each has its full text on its own page so you can read it before you download anything, and each comes as an illustrated printable. This hub page explains what a Social Story is, links to the five stories, walks through writing your own in seven steps with a worked bedtime example, and lists the mistakes that make stories backfire.

What a Social Story is (and what it isn't)

Carol Gray, a teacher working with autistic students, developed Social Stories in the early 1990s: a short story, usually in the first person, that gives a child accurate information about a situation, including what happens, why, what other people might think or feel, and what the child can do. The tone is patient and reassuring, the language is literal, and the story is read when the child is calm so the information is available when the situation actually arrives.

Gray's criteria set Social Stories apart from behavior charts or rule lists. Most of the sentences describe (what happens, where, who's there) or give perspective (how someone feels, what they're thinking). Only a few direct, and those are phrased as options the child can try ("I can take a breath") rather than commands, with describing and perspective sentences far outnumbering directive ones. The language stays positive, naming what the child can do rather than what he mustn't. Each story covers one situation. And a story is never read as a consequence after misbehavior, because then it becomes a scolding with pictures and the child learns to avoid it.

The book I wrote for parents lists social stories alongside visual schedules and calm-down kits as tools to introduce and practice during calm moments so they're accessible during hard ones. A Social Story is a way of teaching ahead of time.

The free printables on this site

Each link goes to a page with the complete story text, the reasons the behavior happens, and how to read the story so it works.

Social story for not hitting: "I Have Safe Hands." For the child who hits to protest, to communicate, or in overload, with replacement behaviors and the book's ABC-tracking approach for finding the trigger.
Elopement social story: "I Stay With My Grown-Up." For the child who bolts or wanders. The page leads with the safety plan (locks, alarms, ID, swim lessons, teaching "stop") because a story alone is never enough for elopement.
Accepting no social story: "Sometimes the Answer Is No." For the child who falls apart at a denial, with three strategies that make "no" easier to hear.
Social story for transitions: "When It's Time to Change," plus a mini-story for change-in-routine days, with the Resource Kit's countdown cards and warning scripts.
Social story for toilet training: for the child beginning to use the potty, paired with the kit's toileting visuals.

The blank template at the bottom of this page is for everything else: haircuts, the dentist, a new sibling, trying a new food.

How to write your own in 7 steps

Pick one situation and one skill. "Going to the dentist" is narrow enough to be a story, while "being good" isn't. The narrower the topic, the more useful the story.
Watch the situation first. Spend a few days noticing what actually happens: where it is, who's there, what the sensory environment is like, what seems to set your child off. The book's ABC-tracking approach (what came before, what the child did, what came after) is a good structure.
Write the describing sentences. Who, what, where, when. "The dentist's office has a big chair that goes up and down. The dentist wears a mask and gloves." Keep them plain and literal, since these sentences make up most of the story.
Add perspective sentences. How your child might feel, and how other people feel or think. "Some kids feel nervous about the dentist. That is okay." "The dentist wants to help my teeth stay healthy." These give the story its reassurance.
Add two or three directive sentences, phrased as options. "I can hold my toy while I sit in the chair." "I can open my mouth wide, like a lion." Keep them to things your child can physically do, and write them in the first person like the rest of the story, which is the kit's rule ("I will...," "I can..."). For the directive lines I lean toward "I can" or "I can try," which Gray favors because it leaves room for the child to be learning; "I will" is fine for things that are certain ("I will feel better soon").
Close with what the grown-ups will do and how they'll feel. "My mom will stay with me the whole time. My mom feels proud when I sit in the dentist's chair." Then an "I am learning" line.
Check the ratio, then add pictures. Count your describing and perspective sentences against your directive ones; you want the first group to outnumber the second by at least two to one. Then lay it out the way the kit's template does: one picture and a line of simple text per page, with photos of your actual child in the actual place. The kit's rule of thumb is four to six pages for the whole story; two or three short sentences per page, eight to twelve in all, is plenty for a child under five.

A worked example (bedtime)

Here's a story written in those steps for a four-year-old who resists bedtime.

Going to Bed

My name is ______. Every night, I go to bed.

Bedtime has steps: bath, pajamas, teeth, book, bed.

My schedule on the wall shows me each step.

Sometimes I do not feel ready to stop playing. Many kids feel this way.

Sleeping helps my body grow and gives me energy to play tomorrow.

When it is time for bed, I can pick one book to read with my grown-up.

I can hold my ______ while I fall asleep.

My grown-up will stay for the book and then say good night.

My toys will be waiting for me in the morning.

My grown-up feels happy when bedtime is calm.

I am learning to go to bed.

Eleven lines. Two directives ("I can pick," "I can hold"), one of which is a structured choice, which the book recommends as a way to give a child some control inside a non-negotiable routine. The rest describe and reassure, and most of the story's work is simply making bedtime predictable.

An editable social story layout with photo frames, plus a one-page guide to writing your own that you can keep by the printer.

One email with the PDF, plus occasional early-intervention tips from Andrea. Unsubscribe anytime.

Mistakes that make social stories backfire

Too long. A twenty-sentence story for a three-year-old loses him by sentence six. Shorter stories, read more often, work better.

All directives. A story that's a list of instructions is a rule chart in disguise, and children sense the difference. If most of your sentences tell the child what to do, add the describing and perspective sentences that make it a story.

Negative language. "I will not hit" and "I don't scream" put the unwanted behavior at the center of the child's mind. The kit's rule is simple, positive language, what TO do rather than what not to do: "I can keep my hands safe."

Reading it as a punishment. A story produced right after the behavior becomes a lecture with pictures, and the child learns to resist the story itself. Read it at a calm, predictable time.

Using it mid-meltdown. A child in overload isn't processing language, so the story's work was done (or not) before the meltdown started.

Promising things that don't happen. If the story says "my grown-up will stay for the book," you have to stay for the book. Children notice when the story and the world disagree.

Social stories vs. visual schedules vs. first/then

These three tools get confused because they're all visual and all about predictability, but they do different jobs. A visual schedule shows the order of events in a routine or a day, usually four to six picture cards on a strip, and answers "what happens next?" The free printable visual schedule for autism page has templates. A first/then board shows two events, one task and the preferred thing that follows it, and answers "why should I do this right now?" The first then board for autism guide covers it in depth. A Social Story explains a situation (what happens, why, how people feel, what the child can do) and answers "what is this, and how do I handle it?" It's read ahead of time, while the schedule and the board are used in the moment.

Most families end up using all three: the schedule runs the day, the board gets a stuck step moving, and the stories prepare the child for the situations that are hardest for him.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free social story template I can edit?

Yes. The template in the download at the bottom of this page follows the kit's Visual Social Stories Template: a frame for one picture and lines for one simple sentence per panel, in a format you can type into or print blank and write on. Many parents find it faster to print it blank, write the sentences by hand, and tape in phone photos.

How many sentences should a social story have?

The kit's template suggests four to six pages for the whole story, one picture and a line of simple text per page. For a child under five, eight to twelve short sentences spread across those pages is a good range. Younger children and children with less language do better toward the shorter end. If your child loses interest before the end, cut it, because a story that gets finished does more than a longer one that doesn't.

Can I write a social story for a child who doesn't talk yet?

Yes. Keep the sentences very short, rely on photos of your actual child in the actual situation, and replace "say" with whatever your child uses to communicate, such as a sign, a picture card, or a button. The "I can" actions should be physical things he can do with his body, and practicing them together matters more than the words for a preverbal child.

The social stories here are a free companion to the book and Resource Kit bundle, which includes the visual schedule tools, the first/then board, the transition scripts, and the behavior tools the stories work alongside. If you're not sure where to start, the start now page lays out the first week.