Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have very narrow and special interests, and are less likely to engage in socially-based recreational activities than typically developing children. Few studies have examined strategies for teaching children with ASD to engage in social games with their peers. The Power Card strategy is a social narrative technique that capitalizes on a child’s special interest to teach appropriate engagement in routines, social interaction, and communicative behaviors. In this study, a modified Power Card strategy was used to teach two boys with ASD appropriate turn taking and social commenting while playing board games. Participants’ appropriate initiating a turn and relinquishing a turn increased with intervention; however, consistent increases in participants’ appropriate commenting were not observed. Students and parents favorably rated the Power Card Strategy following intervention. Results are discussed in relation to limitations and future research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Angell, M., Nicholson, J., Watts, E., & Blum, C. (2011). Using a multicomponent adapted power card strategy to decrease latency during interactivity transitions for three children with developmental disabilities. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 26, 206–217.
Baker, M. J., Koegel, R. L., & Koegel, L. K. (1998). Increasing the social behavior of young children with autism using their obsessive behaviors. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 23, 300–308.
Blum-Dimaya, A., Reeve, S. A., Reeve, K. F., & Hoch, H. (2010). Teaching children with autism spectrum disorders to play a video game using activity schedules and game-embedded simultaneous video modeling. Education & Treatment of Children, 33, 351–370.
Boyd, B. A., McDonough, S. G., & Bodfish, J. W. (2012). Evidence-based behavioral interventions for repetitive behaviors in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42, 1236–1248.
Campbell, A., & Tincani, M. (2011). The power card strategy: strength-based intervention to increase direction following of children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 13, 240–249.
Chan, J. M., O’Reilly, M. F., Lang, R. B., Boutot, E., White, P. J., Pierce, N., & Baker, S. (2011). Evaluation of a social stories[TM] intervention implemented by pre-service teachers for students with Autism in general education settings. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 715–721.
Chiang, C., Soong, W., Lin, T., & Rogers, S. J. (2008). Nonverbal communication skills in young children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1898–1906.
Davis, K., Boon, R., Cihak, D., & Fore, C. (2010). Power cards to improve conversational skills in adolescents with asperger syndrome. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 25, 12–22.
Dawson, G. (2008). Early behavioral intervention, brain plasticity, and the prevention of autism spectrum disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 775–803.
Duffy, C., & Healy, O. (2011). Spontaneous communication in autism spectrum disorder: a review of topographies and interventions. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 977–983.
Gagnon, E. (2001). Power cards: Using special interests to motivate children and youth with Asperger syndrome and autism. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publish Company.
Gast, D. L., & Ledford, J. R. (2014). Single case research methodology: Applications in special education and behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis.
Gray, C. (1994). The new social story book. Arlington: Future Horizons, Inc.
Keeling, K., Smith-Myles, B., Gagnon, E., & Simpson, R. L. (2003). Using the power card strategy to teach sportsmanship skills to a child with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 18, 105–111.
Koegel, R., Fredeen, R., Kim, S., Danial, J., Rubinstein, D., & Koegel, L. (2012a). Using perseverative interests to improve interactions between adolescents with autism and their typical peers in school settings. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 14, 133–141.
Koegel, L. K., Vernon, T. W., Koegel, R. L., Koegel, B. L., & Paullin, A. W. (2012b). Improving social engagement and initiations between children with autism spectrum disorder and their peers in inclusive settings. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 14, 220–227.
Koegel, R., Kim, S., Koegel, L., & Schwartzman, B. (2013). Improving socialization for high school students with ASD by using their preferred interests. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43, 2121–2134.
Kokina, A., & Kern, L. (2010). Social story™ interventions for students with autism spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40, 812–826.
Lang, R., & Page, S. (2011). Benefits of teacher collaboration across varying stages of the research process. Intervention in School and Clinic, 46, 230–234.
Lang, R., O’Reilly, M. F., Sigafoos, J., Machalicek, W., Rispoli, M., Shogren, K., Chan, J. M., Davis, T., Lancioni, G. E., & Hopkins, S. (2010). Review of teacher involvement in the applied intervention research for children with autism spectrum disorders. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disability, 45, 268–283.
Solish, A., Perry, A., & Minnes, P. (2010). Participation of children with and without disabilities in social, recreational and leisure activities. Journal of Applied Research In Intellectual Disabilities, 23, 226–236.
Spencer, V., Simpson, C., Day, M., & Buster, E. (2008). Using the power card strategy to teach social skills to a child with autism. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 5, 2–10.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Daubert, A., Hornstein, S. & Tincani, M. Effects of a Modified Power Card Strategy on Turn Taking and Social Commenting of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Playing Board Games. J Dev Phys Disabil 27, 93–110 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-014-9403-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-014-9403-3