POWER CARD STRATEGY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT BEHAVIOR

OF GRADE 7 STUDENTS

By: Djads P. Bautista

Rationale
The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of Power Card
Strategy in the social development behaviour of the Grade 7 students.
Furthermore, it aims to assess its effectiveness.
Introduction
Power Card Strategy (Gagnon, 2001) together with Social Scripts,
Social StoriesTM (Gray, 2000), is one of the types of social narratives that
provide direct instruction of social situations for children on the autism
spectrum,

including

those

with

Asperger

Syndrome

(AS)

(Gagnon,

2014). Power Card Strategy may be widely used to children diagnosed with
Asperger Syndrome (AS), but educators, paraeducators, parents, or other
professionals today have adapted the said method (Texas Statewide
Leadership for Autism, 2013).

The Power Card Strategy (Gagnon, 2001) is designed around a

students special interest. The strategy, consisting of a brief scenario and a
visual cue, helps students learn appropriate interactions and social behaviors
through their special interests. Its because many students with autism learn
better when they have visual cues such as pictures, photographs, or symbols,
these elements are incorporated (Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism,
2013). Gagnon (2014) cited (Gagnon, 2001) that Power Card Strategy
consists of two partsa short scenario describing how the hero solves the
problem and a small card with a picture of the hero to recap the strategy. The
strategy capitalizes on the relationship between child and hero.

In the international scene, most researches in regards with the Power

Card Strategy have been centered on children with Asperger Syndrome (AS).
A case study conducted by Spencer, V., Simpson, C., Day, M., & Buster, E.
(2008) entitled Using the Power Card Strategy to Teach Social Skills to a
Child with Autism wherein the said strategy was used to teach a 5-year old
boy with autism 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, the proponents recommended that the use of Power
Card Strategy should be generalized into the childs home and will also be
used for a variety of activities and settings.

The use of the Power Card Strategy to help Grade 7 students

developed their social behaviour will be a big help. We are all aware that this
group of students are entering a very critical stage of their lives puberty. The
said stage can either make or break them. Proper guidance and assistant is a
must. Though, dealing with Grade 7 students who have different social
behaviours is not an easy task; thats why developed methods or interventions
can help. And one effective way is applying the said strategy. Since, the
individual is motivated to use the strategy presented in the scenario and on
the Power Card; its a positive strategy that is often entertaining as well as
inexpensive and simple to develop.

Theory Based

Power Card

Develop Social
Behavior of
Grade 7
students

Independent Variable
Dependent Variable

Power Cards, developed by Elisa Gagnon, is a strategy that teaches

children and adolescents with Asperger Syndrome and autism appropriate
social interactions, including routines, behavioral expectations, and the hidden
curriculum (Gagnon, 2001). The Power Card strategy incorporates the
students (intense) special interest onto a card that tells how this hero
handles a particular situation that is currently of focus for this student. A short
social story is also included in this intervention; the social story describes the
situation more fully than can be put on the card. The student first reads the
social story, and then carries the card with him so that he can refer to the
steps that his hero follows when he is in this situation.
Due to the success of most of the studies conducted in relation to this,
researchers have recommended the implementation of using the Power Card
Strategy not just to children diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome but also to
every child in general.

Statement of the Problem

The researcher aims to know the relationship between the Power Card
Strategy and social development behavior of Grade 7 students. Specifically,
its goal is to find the answers of the following questions: 1.) What is the
general social behaviour of the Grade 7 students? 2.) How did the Grade 7
students response to the said strategy? and 3.) Is there a significant
relationship between Power Card Strategy and social development behavior
of Grade 7 students?
References
Gagnon, E. (2014). Social stories, social scripts and the power card strategy.
Retrieved

September

23,

2014

from

https://www.education.com/socialstories_socialscripts_powercardstrate
gy.htm.
Gagnon, E. (2001). Power Cards: Using special interests to motivate children
and youth with Asperger Syndrome and autism. Shawnee Mission, KS:
Autism Asperger Publishing Company.
Gray, C. A. (2000). The new social story book. Arlington, TX: Future
Horizons.
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 Student Plus, vol. (5), issue 1.
Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism. (2013). Texas guide for effective
teaching: social narratives. Retrieved September 23, 20144 from
https://www.txautism.net/socialnarratives.pdf.