Who?
The CAIS, online course, and additional resources presented here may be useful to you if you relate to, assist, or care for a person living with mild to severe behavior challenges or cognitive challenges. These challenges include those, for example, found in dementia, stroke, mental illness, mental health challenges, traumatic brain injury, autism, or other developmental differences or disorders. They may also be useful to you if you are a person living with such challenges. (And since each of us has a unique set of both cognitive challenges and cognitive strengths, the cais, course, and resources may be useful to all of us (with or without a diagnosis and at all levels of dependence or independence) as we interact with each other.)
Why?
The cais, course, and resources can help reduce or prevent stress, fatigue, frustration, and distress, or simply help a person grow or feel more comfortable and competent. They can help you understand why distress and distressing behavior or situations occur and how to prevent them, as well as how to respond to and help this person.
What?
The Cognitive Abilities and Intervention Strategies (cais) is a guide (or tool) that focuses specifically on supporting a person’s cognitive abilities. It consists of a set of questions and ideas of everyday intervention strategies that anyone can use (professional, friend, or family member, or a person living with cognitive challenges) to address distress, the ability to perform tasks, quality of life, and confusion. It helps you recognize a specific person’s cognitive abilities (their cognitive strengths and needs), then suggests ideas of practical ways to adapt your communication with this person, their environment, and the task.
What’s Here
The cais, Online Course, Three-Volume Manual (in the Additional Resources section)
- cais questions and intervention strategies are all presented here under “Additional Resources”. There are four parts to the CAIS:
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Why the CAIS was Created
In the 1970s I was relating to a variety of people who were living with psychiatric and/or brain diagnoses in my work. I often saw...
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For more information see "How the cais was Created."
Making the cais for Looking Beyond Behavior:
More About the cais, Beyond Behavior Online Course, and Additional Resources
The resources, including the Cognitive Abilities and Intervention Strategies (the cais), the three-volume cais manual, and the online course of five modules in this Beyond Behavior category, search behind the behavior to understand the causes of behavior and how to address them in a way that helps a person.
They describe the brain and how changes in the brain affect a person’s cognitive abilities (for example, their ability to think, imagine, and to understand and respond to their surroundings).
They provide ideas of intervention strategies that address a person’s cognitive abilities so that this person can feel more comfortable and competent, communicate, perform tasks more easily, and in general live a more fulfilling life.
The cais, course, and resources are relevant to any person living with brain changes or differences, such as those found in Dementia (Major Neurocognitive Disorder including Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Frontotemporal Dementia, and others), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Stroke, Autism, or an other intellectual or developmental difference, as well as with mental illness or mental health challenges. They are also in fact relevant to any person with or without a diagnosis, and whether or not this person functions easily or with difficulty. That is, they are relevant to all of us, since each of us has our own unique set of both cognitive challenges and cognitive strengths. We each have an “imperfect” brain.
The Cognitive Abilities and Intervention Strategies (cais) provides a set of questions to ask yourself to help identify a person’s cognitive abilities, including their cognitive strengths and cognitive needs. Additional questions help identify how well the environment, interactions with this person, and the structure and timing of tasks support this person’s cognitive abilities.
Practical, concrete, everyday intervention strategies (support strategies) are then provided to help address this person’s specific cognitive strengths and needs by modifying the environment, communication, and the task and daily routines.
These are individualized to a particular person and situation and are also useful for general education, intervention planning, or program design.
They can help prevent and reduce distress, stress, frustration, fatigue, and distressing situations.
The following resources are provided in the three volumes of the CAIS manual as downloadable and printable pdfs:
- cais Questions to Ask (in Volume 2), with an introduction and instructions for using the cais and for using each of the four parts of the cais: 1. Cognitive Abilities, 2. The Environment, 3. Communication, 4. The Task and Daily Routines. The cais is provided both in an interactive format and as downloadable and printable pdfs. All of Volume 2 is provided as downloadable and printable pdfs.
- cais Intervention Strategies (in Volume 2), with an introduction and instructions for using the cais and for using each of the four parts of the cais: 1. Cognitive Abilities, 2. The Environment, 3. Communication, 4. The Task and Daily Routines. The cais is provided both in an interactive format and as downloadable and printable pdfs. All of Volume 2 is provided as downloadable and printable pdfs.
- Online course with five one-hour modules to learn how the cais is structured and how to use the cais. The course also provides additional tips and orientation to the concepts, and background information regarding the role of the brain. Modules 1-5 address the brain, cognitive abilities, the environment, communication, and the task, respectively.
- Curriculum of five sessions called the cais Educational Series (in Volume 3). These sessions can be presented formally or used informally when sharing information, problem-solving, supervising, or advising. Sessions 1-5 address the brain, cognitive abilities, the environment, communication, and the task, respectively. These sessions include informal questions to ask. Each session has a script, objectives, PowerPoint slides, handouts, and evaluation forms. An introduction to the series is provided. All of Volume 3, including the entire curriculum, is provided as downloadable and printable pdfs.
- In-depth background information and exploration of the concepts (including additional intervention strategies and information about the brain) presented as five chapters (in Volume 1). Each chapter accompanies one of the five modules of the online course and one of the five sessions of the curriculum. The chapter topics are the brain, cognitive abilities, the environment, communication, and the task, respectively. These chapters and introductions provide additional in-depth information and background resources for the cais, online course, and curriculum. All of Volume 1 is provided as downloadable and printable pdfs.
- cais handouts (43 total) in Volume 1 with information and suggestions that go into more depth regarding specific topics that the cais, the online course, the chapters, and the curriculum address (such as visuospatial interventions or frontal lobe interventions, or specific lobes of the brain). They are additional background resources about the brain, cognitive abilities, and intervention and support strategies. They present information and intervention suggestions that address the needs of readers at various levels of understanding and experience, so specific handouts can be distributed to individuals or groups based on specific needs. Most of the handouts are 2-5 pages long; some are longer. An introduction to describe how to use the handouts is provided, as is a list of all 43 handouts. Each of the 43 handouts, the introduction, and the list of handouts are provided as downloadable and printable pdfs.
About the Author: A Summary
Shelly Weaverdyck, PhD
Shelly Weaverdyck, PhD has specialized in cognition and the brain for nearly 40 years, advising and teaching...
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How the cais was Created
The Cognitive Abilities and Intervention Strategies (cais) by Shelly Weaverdyck has evolved from...
(Acknowledgements and dedication are at the end of this section.)
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5 Courses in Cognitive Abilities and Intervention Strategies (CAIS) - Beyond Behavior
- Beyond Behavior: The Brain and Cognition
- Beyond Behavior: Cognitive Abilities
- Beyond Behavior: The Environment
- Beyond Behavior: Communication
- Beyond Behavior: The Task and Daily Routines
Additional Resources in Cognitive Abilities and Intervention Strategies (CAIS) - Beyond Behavior
The goal of IMP is to provide the most up to date, evidence-based information for your continued learning. As part of that, IMP can provide additional resources like a full IMP Encyclopedia and multiple supplementary videos on the various topics covered in the courses.
By clicking the Resources menu, you will find information under the Advisory Groups, Encyclopedia, and Supplementary Videos menu items.
Cognitive Abilities and Intervention Strategies (CAIS) - Beyond Behavior specific resources can be found below.
cais Manual Volumes 1 - 3
Interactive cais Questions and Interventions
Volume 1 - Tips and Concepts Behind The CAIS
5 chapters with similar titles to the session titles in Vol 3 and the module titles in the online course. The titles of Chapters 2-5 match the titles of the four parts of the CAIS in Vol 2. Vol 1 has an introduction, the five chapters, and all the CAIS Handouts (43 total) which give an in-depth look at the CAIS concepts and intervention strategies.
Volume 2 - CAIS Questions and Intervention Strategies
CAIS questions and intervention strategies organized in 4 parts: Cognitive Abilities, The Environment, Communication, and The Task. All 4 parts of the CAIS Questions and Intervention Strategies are available in both an interactive format and in the pdf documents below:
Interactive cais Questions and Interventions
Cognitive Abilities CAIS
Environment CAIS
Communication CAIS
Task And Daily Routines CAIS
Volume 3 - Teaching, Advising, and Learning the CAIS Concepts
5 sessions in the curriculum (called the CAIS Educational Series). Volume 3 has an introduction to Volume 3, an introduction to the curriculum sessions, and then all 5 sessions. Curriculum includes script, handouts, slides, evaluation forms. This is for someone who wants to present this material either to a group/class or in an informal setting while advising. A bit more basic than the online course.
Education Session 1: Brain and Cognition
Education Session 2: Cognitive Abilities
Education Session 3: Environment
Education Session 4: Communication
Education Session 5: Task and Daily Routines
Handouts
Handouts
Addressing Cognitive Abilities
Cognitive Abilities and The Brain
Understanding How a Person, Environment, Task, and Communication Affect Cognitive Abilities
Causes of Cognitive Change
Intervention: Supporting Cognitive Abilities
Improving Communication, Task Performance, Happiness; Reducing Distress
Distressing Situations
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