# SparkStories

> SparkStories is an adaptive app that teaches autistic children (ages 5–12) social-emotional skills through personalized, AI-generated comic stories built around each child's special interests.

SparkStories is currently in development with a free waitlist. It uses Carol Gray's Social Stories™ methodology, special-interest-based learning, visual comic panels, and Item Response Theory (IRT) to deliver 3-minute daily sessions that automatically adapt to each child's skill level across 12 social-emotional learning (SEL) concepts.

## Pages

- [Home](https://sparkstories.app/): Product overview, waitlist signup, key features
- [The Research](https://sparkstories.app/research): Peer-reviewed studies and scientific basis for every design decision
- [For Therapists](https://sparkstories.app/therapists): Information for SLPs, BCBAs, OTs, special educators, and parents

## What SparkStories is

SparkStories generates short comic-format social stories for autistic children. Each session:
- Is set in the child's special interest world (dinosaurs, trains, space, minecraft, etc.)
- Targets one of 12 tracked social-emotional concepts
- Adapts difficulty automatically using Item Response Theory (IRT)
- Takes approximately 3 minutes — one comic story, one comprehension question
- Uses concrete, literal language appropriate to the child's current level
- Ends with a plain-language explanation of the social concept (the "why")

## Who it is for

- Autistic children ages 5–12
- Parents and caregivers of autistic children
- Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) seeking structured home-practice tools
- Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and ABA therapists
- Occupational Therapists (OTs)
- Special educators and school staff

## The 12 SEL concepts tracked

Each concept progresses independently through 7 adaptive difficulty levels:

1. **Emotion Recognition** — identifying emotions from facial expressions, posture, and context
2. **Facial Expressions** — reading subtle and explicit facial cues in social situations
3. **Turn-Taking** — waiting, listening, and exchanging in conversation and play
4. **Perspective-Taking** — understanding that others have different thoughts and feelings
5. **Emotional Regulation** — recognising and managing one's own emotional responses
6. **Theory of Mind** — understanding that others have beliefs and intentions of their own
7. **Personal Space** — body awareness and appropriate physical boundaries
8. **Friendship Skills** — initiating, maintaining, and repairing social relationships
9. **Tone of Voice** — interpreting meaning from how something is said, not just what
10. **Sarcasm & Idioms** — non-literal language, introduced only at levels 5–7
11. **Coping Strategies** — identifying and applying strategies when overwhelmed or upset
12. **Asking for Help** — recognising when to seek support and how to do it appropriately

## Research foundation

Six bodies of peer-reviewed research directly shape how SparkStories works:

1. **Social Stories™** (Gray, 1991; Kokina & Kern, 2010 meta-analysis) — Brief, first-person narratives measurably improve social understanding in autistic children. 30+ years of evidence.
2. **Special Interest Integration** (Winter-Messiers, 2007; Dunst et al., 2012) — Embedding learning in a child's special interest dramatically increases engagement, attention, and skill retention.
3. **Visual Processing Strengths** (Grandin, 1995; Quill, 1997) — Many autistic children show relative strengths in visual-spatial processing; comic panels reduce cognitive load vs. text.
4. **Adaptive IRT** (Embretson & Reise, 2000) — Item Response Theory continuously estimates each child's ability per concept and serves appropriately challenging content.
5. **Concrete Language** (Tager-Flusberg et al., 2005) — Avoiding idioms and figurative language at lower levels matches communication research for autistic learners.
6. **Generalisation** (Stokes & Baer, 1977) — Repeated, varied exposure across different contexts is essential for skill generalisation in autistic learners.

## Key facts

- Age range: 5–12 years old
- Session length: approximately 3 minutes
- SEL concepts tracked: 12
- Difficulty levels per concept: 7 (IRT-adaptive)
- Status: In development — free waitlist open
- Pricing: Free to start
- Methodology: Social Stories™ + IRT adaptive engine + special interest integration

## Frequently asked questions

**Is SparkStories a replacement for therapy?**
No. It is a home generalisation and practice tool. It reinforces skills worked on in therapy — it does not assess, diagnose, or substitute for professional intervention from SLPs, BCBAs, or other specialists.

**What age range is it designed for?**
Autistic children ages 5–12. The 7 adaptive difficulty levels span from early emotion identification (concrete, literal) through theory of mind and non-literal language at the highest levels.

**Can therapists direct it toward specific goals?**
Yes. The app can be focused on specific concepts to align with IEP targets or current therapy goals (e.g., turn-taking, emotional regulation).

**Is the language appropriate for children with communication differences?**
Yes. Lower levels use concrete, literal, short present-tense language with no idioms or sarcasm. Non-literal language is introduced only at levels 5–7 as an explicit teaching target. The visual comic format also reduces reliance on language for comprehension.

**How does the adaptive difficulty work?**
Each answer updates a per-child, per-concept ability estimate using Item Response Theory. The next session is automatically pitched at exactly the right difficulty — never too easy to bore, never too hard to frustrate.

## Contact

- Email: hello@sparkstories.app
- Website: https://sparkstories.app
- Waitlist: https://sparkstories.app/#waitlist
- Research details: https://sparkstories.app/research
- For therapists: https://sparkstories.app/therapists