About Carol

Carol Gray, Consultant to Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Autism, provides support via workshops and presentations, information, referral, resources, and direct services to individuals with autism, their families, and professionals who work on their behalf. She is an internationally sought-after keynote and seminar speaker, and has completed over one thousand presentations.

Carol is best known for the development of Social Stories, a respected evidence-based practice used worldwide with people with autism of all ages.  Carol was the first teacher for students with autism at Jenison Public Schools in Jenison, Michigan 1977-2004.  In 1989, Carol began writing stories for her students to share information with them that they seemed to be missing, information that so many of us take for granted.  Many of the stories resulted in immediate and marked improvement in her students’ responses to daily events and interactions.

Carol is also known for initiating a very effective social philosophy that 1) ‘abandons all assumptions’, 2) regards both the typical and autism perspective as ‘equally valid’, and 3) recognizes the ‘social impairment in autism’ as shared (noting the well-intentioned but nonetheless misguided mistakes of parents and professionals).  She has completed groundbreaking work on some of the toughest topics in autism by reviewing the research, developing new theories, and proposing practical instructional strategies, most notably Gray’s Guide to Bullying (2004) and Gray’s Guide to Loss, Learning, and Students with ASD (2003).

Carol has received many awards for her international contribution to the education and welfare of children, adolescents, and adults with autism.  These include Social Thinking’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2015), Learning Spring School’s Spectrum Award (2012), the Autism Society of America’s Education Book of the Year (The New Social Story Book: Revised and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition (2009), and the Barbara Lipinski Award (Lansing, Michigan, 2005).

Carol lives in west Michigan with her husband, Brian, and two basset hounds, Emma and Hank. Brian and Carol are the parents of two grown children, Joanna and Barrett, and grandparents to Ryan. In the summer, Carol lives at the family cottage where she is often found in the garden or the Wildwood Library (pictured). Carol founded the library to serve their lake community, and serves as its librarian each summer. In the winter, Carol enjoys watching HGTV and American Pickers, trying new recipes (especially casseroles and comfort food), and walking with friends at the dog park.

Publications

Carol has written several articles and chapters in addition to the resources that are listed below.   Many of them are available as a free download in The Morning News/Jenison Autism Journal section of this website, and may also be highlighted below.

  • Gray, C. (2015). The new Social Story book: 15th Anniversary Edition
  • Gray, C. (2012). The last bedtime story that we read each night. Arlington, TX: Sensory World / Future Horizons.
  • Gray, C. (2010). The new Social Story™ book: Revised and expanded 10th anniversary edition. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
  • Gray, C. (2004).  Social Stories™ 10.0.  Jenison Autism Journal: 15, (4), 2-21.
  • Gray, C. (2002). Friendship on the horizon: Can Social Stories pave the road?  Includes Watch, listen, move closer, ease in, a 10 page rip-out insert. Jenison Autism Journal: 14, (3).
  • Gray, C. (2000a).  Writing Social Stories with Carol Gray [Video and accompanying workbook]. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
  • Gray, C. (1999). Gray’s guide to compliments.  The Morning News: 11, (1), 20 page rip-out insert.
  • Gray, C. (1998a). Social Stories and Comic Strip Conversations (pp.167-198). In Schopler, E., Mesibov, G., and Kunce, L. (Eds.), Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism? New York: Plenum Press.
  • Gray, C. (1998b). The Advanced Social Story workbook.  The Morning News: 10, (2), 24 page rip-out insert.
  • Gray, C. (1995).  Teaching children with autism to “read” social situations.  In Quill, K.A. (Ed.), Teaching Children with Autism: Strategies to Enhance Communication and Socialization.  New York: Delmar Publishers, Inc.
  • Gray, C. (1994). Comic strip conversations.  Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.
  • Gray, C. & Garand, J. (1993). Social Stories: Improving responses of individuals with autism with accurate social information. Focus on Autistic Behavior, 8, 1-10.
  • Gray, C. & White, A. L. (2000).  My Social Stories book. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Contact Carol Gray

If you would like Carol to speak for your group or organization, fill out the Workshop/Presentation Request Form.