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Intellectual disabilities (ID) are neurodevelopmental disorders beginning in childhood. They involve intellectual, cognitive, and adaptive behavioral functioning problems, including everyday social interaction and practical skills (AAIDD American Association on Intellectual and Developmental & Disabilities, 2019; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012) identified that 3% of Australians had ID. 85% of whom were classified as having mild impairments and commonly living independently with minimal support or in a group with daily support (Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 Collaborators, 2015). However, people with ID must interact in social situations outside these environments to manage their lives, work, and build a greater sense of community belonging.
Social situations can be challenging for many adults with ID (National Disability Strategy Consultation Report, 2009), and social isolation is an important issue. Limited inclusion, participation, and socialization are worldwide concerns (World Health Organization & World Bank, 2011) and Australian Government priorities (National Disability Strategy Consultation Report, 2009). Many Australians with ID find it challenging to participate in community-based activities and social networks. Poor social skills can contribute to social exclusion, loneliness, and low social interaction (Abbott & McConkey, 2006) and may affect health care outcomes (Burke, 2017; Gilmore & Cuskelly, 2014) and successful aging (Stancliffe et al., 2015). Moreover, poor social skills can increase the family and support service burden of care and negatively impact family members (Hotton & Coles, 2016). Social situations are often discussed, role-played, and practiced in group environments to deliver social skills training. However, where paid staff provide this training, it can be time-limited, costly, and hard to access (Walsh et al., 2018). In response to these challenges, researchers are working toward technological solutions that increase access and enable people with ID to engage in self-directed social skills learning.
Social Stories™1 often provide the basis for contemporary social skills training approaches. Social Stories™ is an empirically validated intervention (Walsh et al., 2018) and is generally viewed as an effective form of training (Hotton & Coles, 2016). The content of Social Stories™ is usually short (primarily written, sometimes with illustrations), linear stories set in typical social environments that describe social cues in a challenging social situation along with appropriate responses and behaviors to address that situation (Gray, 2015).
The fictional setup of these stories lends itself to gamification (Kapp, 2012) via interactive narratives that provide users with the agency to manipulate the direction of a plot (M. C. Green & Jenkins, 2014). While most research focuses on interventions for people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), some findings suggest that story-based social skills training improves the behavior of children (Gray, 2004) and adults (Gül, 2016; Kim et al., 2014) with ID.