PECS for a verbal child | Autism PDD
Yes. It is supposed to help them "see" the sentences and use syntax better. My son never got much out of it, but it was introduced to him WAY after he was verbal but not getting the proper sentence structure and he was in a classroom with NO experieced autism teachers. Times have changed since all those years ago and there may be more expertise at hand with your son. Ask WHY they want to use PECS and give it a try if what they say makes sense. There is a lot of evidence out there that PECS never stops a child from being verbal but ENCOURAGES them to be more verbal. SInce our kids tend to be such GREAT visual learners, seeing sentences put together properly can't help but help.Does anyone have any experience with their verbal child using picture exchange communication program for functional communication?My dd has them, she still doens't know how to use them though. All she does is match them.
they say it is because the child has immediate and delayed echolalia. he also gets frustrated when unable to express himself and melts down
The preschool does use PECS for Logan; I don't at home. It does seem to help him transition from one activity to the next especially when he is frustrated because he doesn't understand what's going on. Logan is verbal, but sometimes needs that visual to make the transition smoother or just doesn't understand the words the teacher is using. The teachers also told me that Logan will repeat a sentence the teacher has said when he doesn't understand its meaning. So the PECS help with that too.Andrew has some verbal communication and a small amount of sign language. We first tried using "visuals" at about age 2 1/2-3, but he was more interested in "playing with" the pictures. PECS was recommended twice by assistive technology evaluations at his previous school, but for two years it was only used during snack time and to identify children in the class. During the third year of pre-school before he transferred in November, there was a picture schedule in the classroom, but it was rarely used. NOW thank goodness, he is in the all day regional autism program where they use a class picture schedule, inividual picture schedules, and pictures at meal and snack time. He is no longer so incredibly frustrated! Now he has another tool for communication that makes 3! Verbal language, sign language, and PECS...Whooo-Hooo!
EVERYTHING I HAVE READ AND RESEARCHED STATES THAT THE USE OF PECS DOES NOT AFFECT THE USE OF OR DEVELOPMENT OF SPEECH/EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE.
If there is ONE Golden Rule with autism, it's CONSISTENCY. I know we all know this, but implementing things consistently across ALL adult interaction in a child's life is difficult and requires planning and discipline on OUR parts. I would request PECS training at home if you're serious about using it. It can make a HUGE difference in frustratio level and can really set the stage for good language growth. The home has to be 100% "in" on this as well as ALL the adults in the school. One of the drawbacks to inclusion or mainstreaming is that techniques that are proven to work with ASD kids are often not fully understood in the mainstream and it's MUCH harder to be consistent. And I mean with HIGH functioning kids, too. Good inclusion models are getting less rare these days, but my observation over the past 14 years has been that inclusion seems to work best for other disabilities, including mental retardation. Our kids learn SO differently, I rarely see it work well, especially after the elementary school years. If others have had a different experience, that's great. But I think it's almost always better to get a fair amount of autism-specific teaching into a child's life if he's on the spectrum.
could someone explain this PECS thing more. MY dd talks but its not really functional speech since she cannot most of the time tell you what it is she wants and if she tells you one thing like cheese adn you give her cheese its not what she wanted. I would love to know what she wants and needs its so frustrating to hear her talk and sing but not be able to get her wants out there. She gets most of her speech right now from cartoons. So she counts and sings but cant tell you anything she needs. HOpe you all understand what I mean. would love to find something to help her.
Any speech therapist who works with kids who have autism should know all about PECS and have a basic knowledge of sign language. With a little research and guidance you can do PECS yourself at home. I hope your new services will be better.Our last two therapist werer the therapists from hell. The first one would basically give up my dd would throw a fit or she did 15 min of work with her and then did her own paperwork which she shouldnt have been doing will her with dd. Second one didnt think anything was wrong with dd only she said she has great language and only needs to work on answering questions that she will be asked in preschool. Yeah ok dd does label all the flash cards she did with her but other than that and her talking about only what she wants to talk about and almost 1/2 of that I still cant understand she cant not tell you what she wants or needs, 1/2 of her day is spent quiet on the couch with her blanket and bottle and only says something when she needs a refill on her bottle or sippy cup of juice and when she does talk it usually isnt towards anyone its usually her just chatting. When she is hungry she knows a few food words but these are not always what she wants. The therapists only concern was getting to answer how old are you, whats you name and teaching her the word NO which OMG is driving me insane now bc everything you ask her is NO even if she means yes and can understand why you dont know what she means by it. So right now we are without a speech therapist and I think I have done more work myself if finding what will work with her than either of these therapist have tried to do. They never even tried to show her sign language but her developmentalist/behaviorist has tried helping her learn more. I just want to try and do everything I can to help my dd out as best as I can. Thank you for all the help that you have given. Sorry that I tend to ramble on and on. I just get so worried that I aint doing the right things or not enough things to help her out.PECS is the Picture Exchange Communication System. It is a system developed by Lori Frost and Andy Bondy as an alternative method of communication for nonverbal people. The system uses pictures, or picture symbols as a means of communication, and uses discrete trials with 2 trainers, and eventually 1 trainer to teach the child first to initate communication, then to identify specific items, then to use sentences- all with pictures. When this was developed they discovered that a number of the nonverbal kids also started to talk. This is not really surprising when you take into account how helpful visual supports are for autistic learners.
You can order an excellent training video directly from them and read a little more about it at www.pecs.com (which also stands for the name of their company- pyramid educational consultants).
I think that if you do a search on this forum, I also posted the first phase protocol for teaching PECS somewhere.
Here you go:
PECS Picture Exchange Communication System
Phase 1
Objective: Upon seeing a “highly preferred” item, the student will pick up a picture of the item, reach toward the trainer, and release the picture into the trainer’s hand.
Environment: Student and 2 trainers at a table. One trainer is in back of the student and the other trainer is in front of the student. A “highly preferred” item is on the table, but is slightly out of reach of the student. The picture of the item is on the table between the student and the desired item.
Protocol:
Part 1: FULLY ASSISTED EXCHANGE
Trainer 2 (facing student) looks at student and has desired object close at hand, in plain view.
Student may reach for desired object.
Trainer 1 (behind student) physically directs child’s hand to pick up the picture of the item, and place it in the open hand of Trainer 2.
As soon as the picture touches the open hand of Trainer 2, Trainer 2 verbally rewards the student “Oh! You want the ____!” and immediately hands the item to the child.
Repeat: 5 trials.
Part 2: FADE PHYSICAL ASSISTANCE
Trainer 2 begins delaying the student has completely released the picture into Trainer 2’s open hand. As soon as picture is released, verbal praise and item are given.
Repeat: until picture is released into open hand with no prompting 4/5 trials. Prompts for picking up the picture continue until release is successful 4/5 trials.
Begin fading physical prompts for picking up the picture. Trainer 2 shows her open hand to the student until the student reaches for either the item or the picture.
Part 3: FADE OPEN HAND CUE
Trainer 2 begins waiting longer to show open hand. Trainer 2 begins holding out open hand only when child is reaching toward her with the picture. Student should reach toward Trainer 2 (Trainer 2 should NOT reach toward student). Verbal praise and item are given when performed correctly.
Repeat: 4/5 trials.
Notes:
Ø Reinforce the desired actions. Do NOT use the word NO in this phase.
Ø When you are handed a picture, respond as if the student has spoken to you.
Ø Fade prompts in this order: releasing picture, picking up picture, holding hand open.
Ø Make sure the item is “highly preferred”. Return to assessment of “highly preferred items if necessary.”
Thank you so much for letting me know what it is all about. I would love to know what my dd wants most of the time. I hope they really work with her on this with the wrap around services we will be getting in addition to her EI which we just fired her speech therapist.
You deserve to vent. Those speech therapists were inexperienced to say the least and give speech therapists a bad name. There are good ones out there, I home your daughter will get one.
You ARE doing all the right things by trying to get the therapies in place. If it takes a while and you have to fire a few people then so be it. You are doing exactly what you need to do.
Good luck, let me know if you try out PECS and if it works for your daughter.
She was only just diagnosed at the end of January. She is getting EI (ot 1hr a week and developmental behaviorist 1 hr a week) she will also be getting wrap around therapy which consists of a TSS (theraputic staff support) 2hr a day (10hrs a week) and a BSC (behavioral specialist consultant) of 3hrs a week she is more of the office person who comes up with the plan for the tss to implement. They are gonna created a social story book for her (I think that is what they called it) They are gonna do AVB with her and not much what else since they are still at the planning out what her therapy will consist of. Hope this answers some of the questions you were asking. [QUOTE=panickedmomof2]could someone explain this PECS thing
more. MY dd talks but its not really functional speech since she cannot
most of the time tell you what it is she wants and if she tells you one
thing like cheese adn you give her cheese its not what she wanted. I
would love to know what she wants and needs its so frustrating to hear
her talk and sing but not be able to get her wants out there. She gets
most of her speech right now from cartoons. So she counts and sings but
cant tell you anything she needs. HOpe you all understand what I mean.
would love to find something to help her.
Since your daughter is only two, how recently was she diagnosed? What
was suggested for therapy? PECS (Picture Exchange Communication
System) is a great way to help her communicate, but there is a system to
it as far as teaching what the pictures are and atttaching a meaning,
especially too since your daughter is so young. If you want you can email
me and I can try to guide you to some clear information on some
interventions!
If they are doing AVB, they usually use sign to augment communication.
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