What the research says — and what it doesn't

Preparation stories

Social stories, developed by Carol Gray in 1991, are short personalised narratives that describe a situation from the child's point of view: what will happen, who will be there, and what to do. Thirty years of use with autistic children, and growing use with anxious children and children with ADHD, show they reduce uncertainty before new experiences. Reviews find the effect is strongest when the story is specific to the child and read repeatedly before the situation.

Video modelling

Video modelling shows the child a short clip of someone getting through the situation successfully, watched several times before the real thing. Video self-modelling goes one step further and uses edited footage of the child themselves. Small studies in selective mutism — children who speak at home but not at school — found that two-minute videos watched before real outings, combined with rewards and gradual practice with the teacher, increased speech, with gains holding at follow-up. These were studies of a handful of children, without statistical testing, so they are promising rather than proven.

What a personal episode is

A personal episode is video modelling with a cartoon lookalike: the hero is drawn to resemble your child and succeeds at the exact moment you describe. That is not the same as a video of your child, and we don't claim the same results. What we do copy from the research is the routine around the video: watch it twice a week with a day between, let the child press pause at the brave moment and get a small reward, agree a "mystery motivator" for the first real attempt, and move toward the real situation in small, planned steps. That routine is in the parent guide with every episode.

What we don't claim

Personal episodes are not therapy, diagnosis or treatment. They don't replace a teacher, speech therapist or psychologist, and they're not a substitute for the support a child may need. If your child's difficulty is severe or persistent, please speak to a professional — and show them the episode; many find it a useful starting point.

Help us learn

Tell us how it went by replying to your delivery email. We use what parents tell us to improve the next episode, and we'll share what we learn here.

Sources: Gray, C. (2015). The New Social Story Book. Lang, R. et al. (2011). Behavioral intervention to treat selective mutism across multiple social situations and community settings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(3). Bork, P. (2016). Augmented video self-modeling as an intervention technique for young children with selective mutism. Brock University.