Graduation can be an exciting time. But, it can also bring a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about what to expect for the ceremony, what to wear, and everything else that's involved (e.g., photos, parties, family gatherings).
Using a social story can be a great way to prep a child or teen for their graduation ceremony. And that's where these free social stories about graduation come in.
However, please note that the following social stories primarily focus on high school graduation, especially for those moving to a transition program. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of free options out there on graduation in general and the ones that I could find were pretty specific in focus.
And, in case you are looking for stories geared towards younger kids, you should know that not many of these focus on preschool, kindergarten, or middle school graduation. However, you can always use elements from the following stories as inspiration for writing your own social story and/or adapt them to fit your needs.
Free Social Stories About Graduation
Have you been looking for a social story about graduating? Then look no further than these free printable graduation social stories. Some require you to have a Teachers Pay Teachers account (which is free!) before you can download them.
I've rounded up some options for you to explore. That way you can find the best graduation social story for yourself or your child. Or you can simply use ideas from different stories below to write your own custom story (free social story templates here to help).
Please note that just because a social story is listed here does not mean I endorse its content. After all, many social stories tend to be poorly written and/or teach autistic masking. Besides, I haven't read all of these stories word for word myself. So please read through the stories carefully before using them.
1. High School Graduation Social Story from Kari's Creative Corner on TPT - This story is about high school graduation and uses simple clipart. It comes as a Word document and can be customized to fit your needs.
2. Graduation Ceremony Social Story from Boardmaker - Here's a simple story with Boardmaker symbols and simple text. It touches on cap and gown and speeches.
3. Moving to Kindergarten Social Story from Speech-Language Therapy Sessions - A three-page social story that's super basic and uses colorful clipart. It takes about finishing preschool and moving to kindergarten.
4. I Am Graduating Social Story from Watson Institute - A simple story for those graduating at age 21 and transitioning to work. It is editable by the looks of things and includes some clipart. You'll have to scroll through this list and look for the I am Graduating story.
5. Graduation/Transition Social Story from Chris in Special Ed on TPT - This story is text only so that you can add your own images or photos. Its focus is on graduating when you turn 22.
6. Symbol Supported Virtual Graduation Social Narrative from Adulting Made Easy aka SpedAdulting on TPT - While this story focuses on virtual graduation, I'm sure there are elements that you could modify or keep to fit your needs, especially if you are planning to write your own story anyway. It does include the option to have symbol supports or not.
7. Graduation Social Story from Eye Roll Expert on TPT - This social story is geared towards students who are graduating and continuing on to 18-21 year old transition programming.
8. Special Education Graduation Social Story from Eye Roll Expert on TPT - This social story is like the one above, but focuses on special education graduation versus general graduation (I guess?).
Video Social Stories About Graduation Ceremonies & Convocation
Here are some video social stories that talk about different aspects of the graduation ceremony. Please note that many of them are specific to a particular school or university. 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 helping you understand different aspects of graduation time.
I know that wasn't a lot of options for social stories about graduation, especially if you are looking for preschool or kindergarten graduation. Unfortunately, like I mentioned earlier, there just aren't many options available for free. Hopefully, though, you can adapt the above stories to fit your needs.
