Comic strip conversations

Carol Gray developed Comic Strip Conversation in the 1990’s.

They are used to help develop social understanding.

Comic Strip Conversations are simple visual representations of conversations / social situations which can show:

What was actually said in the conversation (using speech bubbles)
What people’s intentions might be (using thought bubbles)

How people might be feeling (using colour coding)

This can help to make ‘abstract’ aspects of social communication, like the thoughts of others, more ‘concrete’ and easier to process.

A Comic Strip Conversation can be used to help:

Help a young person reflect on how they think an interaction went and what they were thinking at the time
clarify a misunderstanding – it can show what was said and thought by the student and can also show the thoughts of others too
think about how to resolve situations when things go wrong
plan for conversations in the future (ensure that you allow for some unexpected changes)

How to create a comic strip conversation:

Process of developing a comic strip

Stick people represent the people present
Speech bubbles used to show what has/could be said
Thought bubbles are used to show thoughts and intentions
Lots of people talking at once are represented by one speech bubble coming from lots of stick people
If one or more people are listening, the speech bubble ends at their ear
If people are talking over one another/interrupting, then the speech bubbles overlap
You can identify LOUD and quiet words

Different colours can be used to show different emotions

Colours help to show different emotions (the first four are great to get started, you can add more as you go along).

Ideas to get started:

Make sure you have the resources that you need e.g. coloured pens, paper etc. Invite the young person to choose the materials they would like to use.

Think together about where to store any comic strip conversations, a notebook, folder, picture on a phone or tablet.

Encourage the young person to take the lead from the start.

Think about a hobby, something that has gone well or small talk like the weather. The young person can start drawing the stick people and use speech and thought bubbles to identify what was said and thought. Use colours to identify emotions and intentions.

Then move on to think about other social situations. Let the young person lead and offer guidance as needed. They could

think of a situation where things have not gone the way they would have liked

think of a situation where they have felt confused by a conversation
plan a conversation that they would like to have with someone

Things for the young person to consider

Situation -Where were you? Who else was there? What are you doing?
Problem - What happened? What did you say? What did others say? What did you think when you said that? What did others think when they said/did that?

Summary – What happened and why?
Conclusion and good advice. You could then reflect together on happened, what might be needed to rectify the situation and / or what could be done differently next time.

Remember it is also important to do comic strip conversations for things that go well and reflect on why these things went well!