Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

Christine Reeve. 10 Reasons Why I Like the Picture Exchange Communication System https://autismclassroomresources.com/10-reasons-why-i-like-picture-exchange/   Pyramid Educational Consultants. Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) https://pecs-canada.com/pecs/   Pyramid Educational Consultants. A Clear Picture: The Uses and Benefits of PECS http://www.pecs.com/webcasts/overview.php

According to Pyramids Educational Consultants, PECS was and still is implemented with individuals with more than 50 different diagnoses. Some examples of the different diagnosis are autism, Down syndrome, developmental delay, Rett syndrome, deaf/hearing impairment, and many more. Is this person a candidate for PECS? https://pecs-canada.com/download/FlowChart-IsthispersonacandidateforPECS-Letter.pdf

The Picture Exchange Communication System has many benefits to the program including but not limited to: Teaches students functional communication Promotes the development of speech It is a tangible form of communication – to complete the communication a recipient must physically accept the message – it focuses on the deliverance of communication with another individual which promotes social interaction Teaches initiative – students learn that if they want to communicate something with another individual, they have to initiate the conversation instead of waiting for someone to notice or ask them Teaches students alternative strategies of gaining the attention of others to ones that may appear to be harmful behaviours Decreases the risk of miscommunication or misunderstandings through the use of labelled pictures Inexpensive and accessible – is lightweight and can be carried around There are no prerequisite skills for students to use this program – they do not need to be able to know wh...

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a unique supporting communication system that was developed in the USA in 1985. PECS teaches students functional communication skills through the use of pictures. It was first implemented with pre-school children diagnosed with autism. Due to its success in promoting children to communicate using pictures and symbols, it was then used worldwide for nonverbal students with varying exceptionalities.  PECS consists of six phases starting simply by learning to give a picture of a desired object or action to another individual who will respond to the request. As the phases progress they become more complex until it reaches the final “commenting” phase where students respond to short questions with short sentences starting with “I see”, “I hear”, “I feel” and so on. Properly working through the phases of PECS a teacher should see an improvement with students' communication starting with requesting items or commenting on something, and e...

    PECS can be adapted to fit the unique day to day life of each student who uses them. Educators can simply print out pictures that will help students with ASD communicate the wants and needs in their daily life. PECS often include a visual representation and a written representation of a want or need that must be communicated. What is missing is a verbal representation of the want, need, or instruction. If an educator is assisting a student use a PECS they can read out the label on the PECS. If the student does not have the help of their educator and the student is non-verbal, they will miss out on the verbal communication. If there was a way to somehow incorporate verbal instruction into the PECS the communication system could be improved. (Source: Autism Classroom)  It may also be beneficial to have educators universally trained on how to use PECS with their students with ASD. If all educators have the same training using PECS this will insure that the students who u...

In terms of cost, PECS are fairly inexpensive. This is because they can be made using images from a google search or photos from a cell phone camera roll. To make a PECS all you need is a notebook, pictures, laminate and Velcro. Most of these supplies should be made available to educators and if not they can be purchased at a dollar store. PECS are also very accessible. They can be made in any size so they can be brought with students wherever they are needed. The images in the PECS are also meant to be accessible and easy to understand for everyone. Often the images in PECS are labelled making them more universally understood. The images selected for PECS are chosen to make communication efficient and successful in all environments for every individual using the PECS. (Source: Autism Classroom) Christine Reeve. 10 Reasons Why I Like the Picture Exchange Communication System https://autismclassroomresources.com/10-reasons-why-i-like-picture-exchange/