A creative story writing program to help children with developmental disabilities raise their social skills and confidence from home has been developed by Gateways Support Services.
The six-week program, ‘Fiction with Friends’, delivered via Zoom, was created by Gateways occupational therapist, Ben Jaap. It guides small groups of children aged 7-11 years to work together to write, illustrate and record their very own story.
“This group really is not run by me, it’s run by the kids. I’m just there to reinforce the social skills and put the book together. They are the ones who create the characters, their look, their character back story, and how they all come together to sort out some conflict,” Jaap said.
Across six sessions children use social thinking concepts such as ‘The Group Plan’, ‘Hidden Rules – Expected and Unexpected Behaviours’, ‘Flexible and Stuck Thinking’ and ‘Sharing an Imagination’ to get to know one another and create a unique and personal story in groups of three children and one occupational therapist.
According to Jaap, as well as having a great time and getting to know their peers, there were other positive effects from the program, especially changes to the kids’ confidence and respect for one another.
“They started the group either shy or unsure about their ideas, or talking over others to make their ideas heard, but by the end of the group they were all working together and encouraging each other,” he said. “They all end up feeling comfortable with doing that after a couple of sessions, resulting in a group that is respectful of each other and proud of what they have created together.”
At the end of the program, each child also receives a physical copy of the finished book to keep, a material memory of their story-creating adventures.
For more information visit: Visit the Gateways Support Services website