Using the Power Card Strategy to Teach Social Skills to a Child with Autism.

Having a special or highly focused area of interest is a characteristic that is commonly found in many children with autism. These interests include a wide range of fascinations and can be highly motivating for students with autism. Although recognized as an inherent characteristic of autism, special interests and their role in motivating children and youth to learn is an understudied issue. This study was designed to replicate a previous study (Keeling, Myles, Gagnon, & Simpson, 2003) that used the Power Card Strategy to teach sportsmanship skills to a 10-year old girl with autism. The strategy incorporates the special interests of children with autism to teach a variety of social, academic, and behavioral skills. Using the Power Card Strategy, a five year old boy with autism was taught to increase his time on the playground and his social interactions with a large number of 2nd grade students. Because of the success of the strategy, it will be generalized into the child’s home and will also be used for a variety of activities and settings.