Ah yes, the preteen years...Where conversations around puberty, regular hygiene, and bodily changes are frequent and aplenty.
I remember some of the awkward conversations as a preteen about body changes, sex, periods, and whatnot. But, even more so, I remember all the questions and concerns I had. There are just so many changes that come along with the adolescent years.
And, for an autistic child, all those body changes might be incredibly overwhelming. Especially when you consider all the sensory challenges that might come along with wearing pads or bras. Or getting used to hair in new places. That kind of thing.
Then there are a bunch of new skills to learn that require multiple steps. Things like shaving, using menstrual products, wearing deodorant, and so on.
Visual social stories or routine charts can be a big help for breaking down these new skills into individual steps.
The focus here though is social stories about puberty.
Thankfully, there are lots of detailed social narratives already available to help explain these changes to your autistic child in clear, concise ways. Stories that explain periods, body odor, and masturbation. There wasn't much for free ones that focused on erections, sex, or anything like that though.
This collection of puberty social stories was last updated on November 24, 2022. New stories were added, dead links were removed, and more details were provided to make sure you can find what you need quicker.
Free Social Stories About Puberty
You'll find a wide variety of social stories for puberty below, everything from body odor, wearing a bra, periods/menstruation, masturbation, and more.
While some of the social stories below are text only and include no images, you can use the free social story templates in combination with these text only stories to create a custom social story that fits your needs.
Besides, when it comes to puberty, I think it's important to personalize it to your child and their needs anyway. I can almost guarantee that you're not going to find the perfect social story for these topics below since there are simply too many factors to consider, such as cultural considerations, sensory sensitivities, religious reasons, etc.
So I strongly encourage you to use the following social stories as inspiration text, or as a guide, for creating your own. After all, a good story is one that is tailored to the child.
All of these puberty social stories are free. However, some do require you to create an account on Teachers Pay Teachers (which is free) or, in the case of the stories from Able 2 Learn, you'll have to add them to your cart and check out.
1. Getting My Period (A Social Story for Girls in Early Puberty) from Bloom Wellbeing on TPT - This story is 17 pages and uses colorful illustrations. It talks about breasts, body hair, and menstruation.
2. How to Manage My Period Social Story from Aimee Ross on TPT - This story uses colorful illustrations and focuses on how to use pads during a period.
3. 2 Social Stories About Periods from Raising Children - There are two text only social story examples included here. One is called "I Will Begin to Have my Period" and the other is called "How I Feel When I'm Getting My Period."
4. Body Odor & Deodorant Related Social Stories from Happy Learners - There are four text only social stories available here that focus on body odor related topics. No images are included.
5. Social Stories About Menstruation from Happy Learners - You'll find four text only social stories here. No images are included. The topics are "Facts About Periods," "First Period," "Spotting," and "Talking About Your Period."
6. Social Stories About Touching Yourself from Happy Learners - Here are two social stories related to masturbation. They are text only and don't include images. The titles are "Playing with Myself" and "Touching Myself."
7. Puberty & Masturbation Social Stories for Boys from Living Well with Autism - These stories use simple text and colorful icons. There is also a version for mom-only households.
8. My Body is Changing Social Story for Boys from East Brew Inspired on TPT - This story uses black and white illustrations and super repetitive text, but it might be a good starting point for discussing puberty.
9. Deodorant Social Story from The Classroom Behavior Consultant on TPT - A simple one page story that teaches kids about using deodorant.
10. Getting a Period Social Story from Boston Medical Center - This story talks about periods and uses colorful clipart. It's available in 5 different languages.
Video Social Stories About Getting Your Period & Body Odor
Here are a couple of social stories that talk about periods, as well as other as body odor. Sadly, I couldn't find much else for video social stories on this topic. You can use these in teletherapy sessions, social skills groups, at home, and/or classroom settings. Videos are always a great alternative to printing off a story.
Like the stories above, some of the wording in these videos aren't always great. But I wanted to make sure you had lots of different options for discussing periods, menstruation, and other aspects of puberty.
Can't Find Exactly What You Need? Try this Social Story About Deodorant!
Didn't find quite the right social story above? Don't feel like writing one from scratch? Sometimes social stories about puberty that you get for free aren't the way to go.
But perhaps this deodorant social story from my shop will be a helpful resource for you and your child.
Grab your copy of the deodorant social story
