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The POWER-Solving® Instructional Approach
Participants are taught the tools to effectively problem solve via a highly structured, systematic, and child- and adolescent-friendly approach. Each of the 5 POWER-Solving® steps is taught via the 3-D approach (Discuss, Demonstrate, Do).
- Discuss: the facilitator presents each step, discusses the importance of the step, and provides child- and adolescent- friendly vignettes with visual supports.
- Demonstrate: the facilitator models (i.e., shows) how the steps are implemented successfully within real-life situations.
- Do: the child / adolescent practices the steps via role play situations, while receiving ongoing behavior-specific feedback from the facilitator, as he/she learns self-monitoring behaviors.
Everyday-Life Social Situations
After learning the 5 POWER-Solving® steps:
- Put the problem into words
- Observe your feelings
- Work out your goal
- Explore possible solutions
- Review your plan,
children and adolescents are taught how to systematically apply the tools in their new “toolbox” to everyday-life social situations, using a problem-solving approach. Each social situation is presented in a user-friendly manner, including vignettes that contain vocabulary and visual supports consistent with the student’s educational level. Participants develop the necessary skills and confidence to gain additional social skills and apply them fluently, as they use and generalize what they learned in the POWER-Solving® steps:
- Role-play activities are included with every subsequent social challenge to strengthen skill acquisition and promote fluency of skills.
- It is recommended that the facilitator utilizes reinforcement procedures to foster positive behaviors via tangible rewards, social praise, group contingencies, reward activities, self-reinforcement, etc.
- Generalization activities are provided to involve parents and other adults outside of the primary “treatment” location, including school, home, and the community.
The POWER-Solving® curriculum includes various modules which represent common social situations that children and adolescents experience. To learn more about the POWER-Solving® Curriculum Components, click here.
Within every lesson, children and adolescents are coached through behavioral rehearsal activities to promote skill acquisition, performance, generalization and fluency.
Coaching is provided to help the children and adolescents use POWER-Solving® to successfully handle the social situation. For example, when presented with the situation of two individuals playing a game, the participants learn to say “I was trying to play a game and then I realized that I don’t know how to play games with other people.” By applying the POWER-Solving® Steps, they learn how to play a game and become more independent in their ability to problem solve.
Assessment tools are provided to assist facilitators in evaluating each participant’s performance level and identifying their strengths and needs. These tools also help facilitators determine appropriate social situations to which they can apply The POWER-Solving® Curriculum.
To promote generalization of learned skills, parents are provided with handouts at the end of each new lesson to help them understand the targeted skill and homework assignments to promote mastery, and maintenance and generalization of the skill by providing opportunities to practice skills outside of direct instruction. Most of these activities require no more than 10-15 minutes of time per week.
Flexibility – While it is critical for the child and adolescent to learn the POWER-Solving® Steps first (i.e., the “toolbox”), the facilitator can determine the sequence of the subsequent modules. For example, one may prefer to move to the Anger Management module after the Introduction. Alternatively, one may decide to move to Social Conversation or Developing Friendships.
Video: POWER-Solving® in Action
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Stepping Stones to Solving Life’s Everyday Social Problems
- POWER-Solving®: Stepping Stones to Solving Life’s Everyday Social Problems is designed to teach children and adolescents to become independent problem-solvers via a hands-on, user-friendly, positive-practice, interactive approach.
- Through the use of child- and adolescent-friendly, engaging materials, which rely heavily on visual cues and supports, participants gain the “tools” necessary to successfully problem-solve – tools they can use to solve various challenging social situations at school, home and in the community.
- POWER-Solving® is a carefully thought-out and tested tool for teaching students the critical skills they need. It has been applied successfully in classrooms, summer programs, clinical settings and home environments.