Social Autopsy

When to use: 

• To help a student better understand a social situation. To help the student respond more appropriately in the future. 

How to use: 

1. Identify an area with privacy to discuss the situation with the student. 
2. Complete the worksheet: Identify the error 
3. Identify who was harmed by the error 
4. Decide how to correct the error 
5. Develop a plan so the error doesn’t happen again 
6. Model and role play the plan prior to the student carrying it out. 
7. Follow up with the student after the plan has been carried out. 

Tips: 

• Initially model how to use the worksheet, then as appropriate, begin to give the student more independence. 
• You may need to help the student by providing options for the steps. For example: If the error is a student damages another student’s personal item, options for correcting the error could be to apologize, repair the item, or to replace the item. 
• Pairing visuals can facilitate increased understanding.