“Who are your heroes in real life?”
This question comes from the famous Proust Questionnaire featured on the last page of Vanity Fair magazine. Whenever a new issue arrives, I flip straight to that section. As I read it, I usually think about how I would answer the questions. When it comes to heroes in real life, a few answers come to mind. I think of my parents, doctors, teachers, and good Samaritans—people who refuse to give up in the face of adversity. And then there’s another group of people that holds a special place in my heart—parents of children with special needs.
The Challenges of Parenting
Parenting is not easy! And as a parent of three children, I can convincingly say so. Raising “typical” children comes with countless challenges, but raising a child with special needs compounds those struggles—from the never-ending doctor’s appointments and therapy sessions to the ongoing demand for specialized support.
As a parent of a neurodivergent child who has been in social therapies since the age of three, I know the hardship. We have been fortunate to have an excellent public school system and professional support, and we’ve seen our son grow and thrive. Social stories have been one of the tools often used to help him navigate social situations and behavioral challenges—and we continue to use them to this day.
About Social Stories
Social stories have long been appreciated by therapists, educators, and parents as a respectful and supportive way to help children navigate complex emotions and behaviors. Social stories were created by Carol Gray, a respected educational consultant known for her pioneering work in autism education. She developed a structured method for writing stories that offer guidance with respect, understanding, and humility.
While social stories do not require pictures or symbols, visuals have become an important part of them. Many young children and visual learners better understand situations when accompanied by images. This is why books, flashcards, and self-made folders of social stories showing common scenarios have become essential tools for parents, educators, and therapists.
However, traditional printed social stories have limitations—they are static and unchangeable, difficult to revise or reprint when new challenges arise. They cannot be tailored with elements from a child’s real life—like a favorite shirt, toy, or object—and therefore may not always create a personal connection. We now know that social stories work best when they are relatable and personalized.
Personalized Social Stories for All
Recognizing the need for customizable and easily created social stories, my co-founder, Iavor Boyanov, and I created Emona—a purpose-built AI tool designed to support emotions and behaviors. With Emona, teachers, parents, and therapists can instantly create tailored visual social stories to guide and navigate daily situations in a positive and empowering way. We are thrilled to introduce Emona.AI to the world.
We didn’t take the creation of Emona lightly. We know that AI trust and safety are of utmost importance, as are data protection and privacy. The Emona AI model is purpose-built and uses carefully tuned parameters, relevance scoring, and content filters to minimize hallucinations and ensure helpful, verified social story responses. We made it our goal to make every interaction safe, predictable, and supportive.
We also made it our goal to make social stories accessible, affordable, and scalable. Traditionally crafted by psychologists, behavioral therapists, or special education teachers for autistic children, social stories aren’t always readily available to every family. With Emona AI, anyone can instantly create a few free social stories. Families can then access the public library for more examples or upgrade to an affordable monthly plan. For professionals, we’ve built a plan that supports scale—allowing providers to expand their practice and deliver a unique, tailored experience to their clients. And by no means do we believe that the role of those wonderful professionals will ever be diminished or replaced.
Social Stories Created with AI
If you are someone who needs to create social stories, we invite you to join our community. Visit Emona.ai and simply type or dictate your prompt. Include a detailed personal description or a specific situation. In under a minute, Emona will generate a complete social story featuring the right balance of directive, descriptive, perspective, and affirmative sentences. Once created, you can view your story pane by pane, save, share, or print it—and revisit it whenever needed. And when a new situation arises, simply type or dictate again to create the social story you need in that very moment.