Social story topics
Social story: Fire drill
A fire alarm is one of the loudest sounds a school makes, and it comes without warning. Everyone moves at once, the normal lesson stops dead, and the adults look serious. For autistic and neurodivergent students a drill can be frightening enough to colour the whole week, even when everyone says it was only practice.
This story explains what a drill is, what the alarm sounds like, the walk to the meeting place and the roll call, and that the student can hold an adult’s hand or cover their ears. Read it before the drill if you know when it is, and again afterwards to make sense of what happened.
A sample story
The Fire Drill at School
- 1First, a very loud bell rings at school.
- 2Then, my teacher knows the bell means we walk outside.
- 3Next, I stand up and walk in a line to the playground.
- 4Finally, I stand still on the playground and the bell stops.
A sample made with HandsOnTop. Yours is written for your student.
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Tips for using it
- Ask the office when drills are scheduled and read the story the day before.
- Have ear defenders where the student can grab them on the way out.
- Walk the route to the meeting point on a calm day with the story in hand.
Common questions
Should I tell the student the drill is coming?
Yes. The point of a drill is to practise the steps, not to practise being surprised. A forewarned student practises the walk and the roll call; a surprised one only practises panic.
Can the story say the alarm is scary?
It should. The story names the loud sound and the scared feeling as normal, then says what to do, which is more reassuring than pretending it is not loud.
What if the student runs or hides?
Write the exact plan into the story: who holds their hand, which door, where they stand. Then rehearse it with that adult before the drill.