How to prepare your child for something new with their own story

Illustration of a child bravely looking toward a lit doorway, symbolizing preparing a child for new experiences

Your daughter is starting a new class on Monday. Or maybe it's the dentist tomorrow. Or Grandma moving into a brand new apartment that no one in the family has seen yet.

You prepare your child for something new by creating a social story where the child is the main character. By going through the situation step-by-step in a recognizable narrative, like in the Flipr app, the unknown becomes concrete and predictable. This gives the child a sense of security and a feeling of having experienced the situation before.

You already know the feeling: your child asks the same questions over and over. "What does it look like?" "Who will be there?" "What should I do?" You answer as best you can, but words alone don't always sink in. Some children need to see themselves in the situation before it becomes real.

Why does the unknown feel so difficult for my child?

It’s not a lack of good answers. It’s just hard to make the unknown concrete enough for a child to relax with it. Some children have a particularly high need to know what awaits before they can face it calmly. This applies to many children with autism, but in reality, to all children facing something new.

What are social stories and how do they work?

Preparing a child with a story is not a new idea. The method is often called social stories and dates back to the American educator Carol Gray, who in the early 1990s began using short, personal narratives to go through an upcoming situation step-by-step, seen from the child's own perspective (carolgraysocialstories.com).

In Denmark, the National Autism Association uses the same approach. The association describes the purpose as giving the child meaningful knowledge about a situation in a way the child can understand and recognize themselves in, making it easier to handle (autismeforeningen.dk). The Australian parenting resource Raising Children Network describes the same principle: a story tailored to the child and read together before the event occurs helps the child know what to expect (raisingchildren.net.au).

The point is simple: the more concrete and recognizable the story is, the less unpredictable the real moment feels.

How do I create a personalized story for my child with Flipr?

You don't need to write the story from scratch or find a generic template online. You simply describe what is going to happen and who is involved, and Flipr builds the story about your child as the hero of their own preparation. The same family, the same pets, the same universe the child already knows from their other stories, now just set in tomorrow's situation.

  1. Tell what's going to happen. First day of school, a dentist visit, a flight, or something else entirely.
  2. Let your child be the main character. The story is based on the child's own world, not a stranger.
  3. Read it together, ideally a few times, in the days leading up to it. The story is ready in under 2 minutes, so you can bring it out whenever it suits you.

When should you use Flipr for preparation?

Flipr is not a treatment, a diagnosis, or a professional tool, and the app does not replace advice from teachers, educators, or healthcare professionals if your child needs it. It also does not claim to be clinically documented. What Flipr can do is make it easy to give your child a safe, personal narrative about what lies ahead—in the same way parents and professionals have done for decades, just tailored exactly to your situation in a few minutes.

What effect does a personal story have on a child's sense of security?

The story itself is not the goal. It's the morning after, when your child walks through the school door standing a little taller because she has already "tried it" last night. Or sits calmly in the dentist's chair because she recognizes the room from her own story.

You didn't just give her a story. You gave her a head start on feeling safe.

What is a preparatory story for children?

It is a short, personal narrative that describes an upcoming situation step-by-step, seen from the child's own perspective, so the child knows what will happen before it occurs.

Does it work for all children, or only children with autism?

The principle was originally developed for children with autism, but is used widely because most children find it easier to handle something unknown when it has been made concrete and recognizable beforehand.

Can Flipr be used instead of professional advice?

No. Flipr is not a treatment or a professional tool. The story is a preparation, not a substitute for advice from teachers, educators, or healthcare professionals.

Give your child a head start on feeling safe

Reference: carolgraysocialstories.com, autismeforeningen.dk, raisingchildren.net.au

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