By Vanessa Lewis at the Tata Learning Disability Forum (TLFD), 2013. The Forum for Learning Disabilities centred on the theme ‘Learning Disabilities – a more inclusive perspective’. The forum this year included in its purview three additional Learning Disabilities (LD), namely Specific Learning Disability (SpLD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In line with the TATA Group’s corporate sustainability endeavors, TIS initiated the Tata Learning Disability Forum (TLDF) in 2006 to ensure that students with special education needs receive the required attention as well as to spread awareness about LD which had been receiving scant attention in India. Since then, via the TLDF platform, TIS has been successful in generating an increased level of awareness and enabling progress in remediation activities for students with LD.

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Ms. Vanessa Lewis | Clinical Psychologist | LD Clinic | KEM Hospital

2. Autism Assessment (CARS2)
• Standard Version Rating Booklet (CARS2-ST)
Equivalent to the original CARS; for use with individuals younger than 6 years of age and those with
communication difficulties or below-average estimated IQs.
• High-Functioning Version Rating Booklet (CARS2-HF)
An alternative for assessing verbally fluent individuals, 6 years of age and older, with IQ scores above
80.
• Questionnaire for Parents or Caregivers (CARS2-QPC)
An unscored scale that gathers information for use in making CARS2-ST and CARS2-HF ratings.

3. CARS2 Standard & High Functioning Forms
CARS2-ST and CARS2-HF each include 15 items addressing the following functional areas:
• Relating to People.
• Imitation (ST); Social-Emotional Understanding (HF).
• Emotional Response (ST); Emotional Expression and Regulation of Emotions (HF).
• Body Use.
• Object Use (ST); Object Use in Play (HF).
• Adaptation to Change (ST); Adaptation to Change/Restricted Interests (HF).
• Visual Response.
• Listening Response.

4. CARS2 Standard & High Functioning Forms
• Taste, Smell, and Touch Response and Use.
• Fear or Nervousness (ST); Fear or Anxiety (HF).
• Verbal Communication.
• Nonverbal Communication.
• Activity Level (ST); Thinking/Cognitive Integration Skills (HF).
• Level and Consistency of Intellectual Response.
• General Impressions.

5. Classroom Strategies
Talking to a child with autism:
• Attention: make sure you get the child’s attention before talking to them.
• Unnecessary Language: be short and to the point (For example, instead of saying, You need to
come and sit in your seat like all the other children until it’s time to go outside,” point to the chair and
say, “Sit please.”
• Do vs. Don’t: Tell the child what you want him/her to do instead of what not to do. Avoid using don’t
because a child with autism may not understand or catch the reversed meaning of the statement
beginning with don’t.
(Crissey, 2005, p. 3)

6. Classroom Strategies
• Visual Schedules.
• Social Stories.
• Comic Strip Conversations/Cartooning.
• Power Cards.

7. Visual Schedules
Providing a daily schedule in a visual format will make the day predictable, ease transitions, and
reduce stress.
• full day, may break the day into sections, or display only a part of the day at a time.
• may use photos, line drawings, picture symbols or words.
(Crissey, 2005, p. 3).

8. Visual Schedules
Spelling Lunch Art Class Bathroom
Reading Recess Activity Computer Lab
Math

9. Social Stories
Social Stories present appropriate social behaviour in the form of a book and include:
• relevant social cues that a child might miss if not directly taught.
• specific behaviours/actions the child is to expect in a given situation.
• details for the child to know what is expected of him.
Social stories may be used to:
• address many different behaviours from fear, aggression, obsession, etc.
• teach routines and changes in routines.
• help teach students to understand their behaviours and the behaviours of others.
• give step-by-step directions for completing a task.
• tell how to respond to a given situation.

10. Comic Strip Conversations/Cartooning
Comic Strip Conversations (aka: Cartooning) are visual systems used to enhance the ability of
children and youth with social-cognitive challenges to understand their environment, including the
hidden curriculum.
Steps for creating/using comic strip conversations:
• Drawing: Begin by drawing the drawing the comic strip conversation. This can be done by you or
the student. Either way, artistic ability is not required; stick figures work fine.

11. Comic Strip Conversations/Cartooning
Steps for creating/using comic strip conversations:
• Guide with questions: The adult guides the student’s drawing or what needs to be drawn by asking
a series of questions:
• Where are you?
• Who else is there?
• What did you do?
• What did others do?
(Myles, Trautman, & Schelvan, 2004, p. 28-29)

12. Comic Strip Conversations (Example)

13. Power Cards
The power card strategy is a visual aid that incorporates the child’s special interest in teaching
appropriate social interactions including:
• routines.
• behaviour expectations.
• the meaning of language.
The Power Card Strategy consists of presenting on a single sheet or in booklet form a short
scenario, written in the first person, describing how the child’s hero solves a problem and a small
card, the POWER CARD, which recaps how the child can use the same strategy to solve a similar
problem himself.
(Gagnon, 2001, p. 19)

14. Where Can the Power Card Strategy Be Used?
Power Cards are appropriate for behaviour's/situations in which the student:
• lacks understanding of what she/he is to do.
• does not understand that he has choices.
• has difficulty understanding that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between a specific
behaviour and its consequence.
• has difficulty remembering what to do without a prompt.
• does not understand the perspective of others.
• knows what to do when calm but cannot follow a give routine under stress.
• needs a visual reminder to recall the behavioural expectation for the situation.
• has difficulty generalizing.
• is difficult to motivate and may be motivated only by the special interest.
• has difficulty accepting directions from an adult.

15. Power Cards (Example)
Student Description:
Arun has been acting out in class and seeking attention from his peers by saying or blurting out
inappropriate comments in class. He likes the attention he gets from his peers for doing this and he
thinks he’s being accepted when his peers laugh at him for doing this.
Arun’s special interest is in cars and he especially likes racing car driver, Michael Schumacher.
Power Card Story:
“Michael Schumacher and His Fans”
Michael Schumacher loves being a race car driver, but sometimes it is difficult for him to think
before he speaks. At the end of a long day sometimes all he wants to do is make others laugh.
Sometimes Michael blurts things out when his boss is talking. But Michael has learned to think before
he speaks.

16. Power Cards (Example)
Michael has learned it is important not to talk when his boss is talking and not to say things to try and
make others laugh when his boss is trying to talk to his pit crew and teach them the latest racing rules
and regulations. Michael has learned to stop and think about the comments he makes before
speaking.
Just like Michael, it is important for Arun to think before he speaks. It would make Michael
proud to know that Arun is like him and that he thinks before he speaks and doesn’t interrupt his
teachers in class. It is important for Arun to remember to do the following:
1. Think before he speaks. Say it in your head first before saying it out loud. If it’s not related to
what the teacher is teaching then Arun shouldn’t say out loud in class.
2. If Arun can’t think of something to say about the teacher’s lesson, it’s better for him not to say
anything at all.
3. Always follow the classroom rules and raise your hand before you speak.

17. Power Cards (Example)
1. Think before he speaks. Say it in your head first before saying it out
loud. If it’s not related to what the teacher is teaching then Arun shouldn’t
say out loud in class.
2. If Arun can’t think of something to say about the teacher’s lesson, it’s
better for him not to say anything at all.
3. Always follow the classroom rules and raise your hand before you
speak.

18. How to Handle a Meltdown
Don’t:
• Loud voices.
• Negative statements/threats (e.g. “You had your chance”, “You made your choice, now you need to
leave class”).
• Taking away preferred or comforting materials or activities.
• Angry tone or body language.
• Punishments (e.g., “You just lost your sticker on your behaviour chart).

19. How to Handle a Meltdown
Do:
One of the most important skills a teacher can have is the ability to be clam and comforting in a crisis
or “meltdown” situation. A comforting teacher may:
• talk softly and share encouraging words.
• repeat a calming phrase.
• or simply keep one’s own body relaxed.
(Kluth)
“The more you try to control the situation, the less control you will have!”

20. Things to Consider
It’s important to consider the following things:
• Fight or Flight.
• Ask previous teachers and/or parents what typically occurs when the child has a meltdown (does
he/she throw things, hit, kick, etc.).
• Find out if there are triggers or warning signs that a meltdown might occur and if so what are those
triggers or warning signs.
• Talk with teachers, parents, administrators, etc. and discuss the best way to de-escalate the
situation.
• Determine when you should call for additional support.

21. Questions?

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Ms. Vanessa Lewis | Clinical Psychologist | LD Clinic | KEM Hospital