Power Card

Personalized, visual reminder

Goal

Prevent challenging behaviors in a specific situation by providing an individualized reminder.

How

First, identify the learner’s interests. Create a personalized visual card featuring their favorite character following one to three specific expectations for that challenging situation. Then, just prior to that situation, present and review the card with them using an encouraging and supportive tone.

Context

This strategy is beneficial for individual learners who frequently engage in challenging behavior during a specific task, situation, or activity. It’s similar to a social story, but it’s more targeted.

Tip

While this strategy has been shown to be beneficial for many learners, it may not be the best choice for learners who think more literally. For example, in this illustration, the learner may interpret the card to mean, “act like a dinosaur,” which is not the intention of this strategy. For those learners, providing explicit expectations could be better.

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