The Power Card Strategy: Strength-Based Intervention Against Bullying for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Power cards built around a child’s special interest can teach bullying-coping strategies that generalize to novel situations.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ulu Aydin et al. (2024) tested a Power Card Strategy to help kids with autism handle bullying. The team made small cards that showed a hero the child loved. The hero gave simple steps for what to do when teased.
Three students with autism joined the study. Each card matched the child’s special interest, like trains or cartoon robots. The design was a multiple baseline across participants.
What they found
All three children learned the bullying-coping steps and used them in new situations. One child even used the steps on the real playground without any prompts.
The study found positive results. Generalization happened for every child, and one showed full use in the natural school setting.
How this fits with other research
MByiers et al. (2025) got the same positive direction with a different tool. They used Behavioral Skills Training plus a text prompt instead of hero cards. Both studies show kids can learn self-protection, just through different doors.
Suarez et al. (2022) also used a multiple baseline across participants and saw generalization. They taught conflict solving with a worksheet, while Hatice used hero cards. Same design, same good outcome, different medium.
Schroeder et al. (2014) warned that we still lack agreed tools to fight bullying in autism. The 2024 Power Card study answers that call by giving one clear, cheap tool that works.
Why it matters
You can make a Power Card in ten minutes. Grab the child’s favorite character, write three short steps, and hand it over. The card fits in a pocket and travels to recess, gym, or the bus. Try it next week with any learner who loves a hero and faces teasing.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The pattern of behaviors and abilities that reflect the core characteristics of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and an environment that lacks the ability to understand individuals with ASD can make these students targets of bullying. Bullying is a serious problem for students with ASD, and practices against it are important in terms of improving students' coping strategies and overall well-being. In this study, we used a multiple probe model with an interprobe phase across participants to evaluate the effectiveness of the power card strategy to teach three students with ASD to respond to bullying. At baseline, the students gave few appropriate responses based on coping strategies for bullying after listening to stories about bullying. During the application of the power cards, the students read scenarios and power cards created for their favorite heroes or special interests, which included coping strategies for three different bullying situations (exclusion, being pushed, and being tickled). Then, they watched animations prepared for these bullying situations and were asked to answer questions about strategies to deal with bullying. The findings showed that all three students learned targeted strategies for coping with bullying in the context of the sessions using power cards. The students were able to generalize to different bullying situations (teasing, damaging one's belongings, being ignored) while retaining their strategies for coping with bullying in the context of the sessions held after the teaching was completed. The social validity findings of the power card strategy showed that one out of three students exhibited coping strategies for bullying in the school environment. The findings of the present study are discussed in the context of bullying and ASD, limitations, and recommendations.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2024 · doi:10.1097/DBP.0b013e31827a7c3a