Friends of All Kinds

As students are preparing their return to school, in whatever form, this month, it’s a great time to have conversations about how to build friendships. Particularly in a moment in our collective life where making connections with others is challenging, starting conversations about what it means to be a good friend will help students feel more confident as they return to school and try to develop new relationships with their peers.

We do a lot of work in schools around anti-bullying. This is really important work that goes a long way in creating positive school cultures, but anti-bullying education is not the same as learning friendship skills. Being a good friend isn’t always clear or easy, particularly when the person you’re trying to connect with seems, at first, to be very different from you.

One thing that will be helpful to students as they approach new friends is having an understanding of disability as a part of human diversity. Students are sure to encounter peers who seem, at first, to be different from them. It’s important that students feel comfortable with disability so that they can avoid letting differences get in the way of getting to know their peers and building friendships.

The Nora Project has written a social story to support the introduction of this concept. Social stories are short stories using simple, direct language and plain pictures that help individuals learn about social situations that can be challenging for them. Our Inclusion Specialist, Dr. Janie Avant, wrote in depth about Social Stories in this post earlier this year. This story, “Friends of All Kinds: Diversity Includes Disability” is appropriate for children ages 3-12. As you read this together with your child, we encourage you to use the discussion questions built into the story to give your child the chance to ask questions, express concerns, and share experiences they might have had. 

You can access the social story for free using the download button below. We encourage you to share it with your children and even with your child’s teachers as your kids head back to school.