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Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a system that is used as a functional communication tool, for children with Autism and limited communication abilities. This communication system is often in place of verbal behavior and can, in some cases, help increase verbal behavior. “PECS has been proved to facilitate functional communication, improve severe impairments of functional speech, decrease the behaviors problem;” however, only a few studies have shown positive effects in the social aspect (Lerna et al., 2012).
PECS is a commonly used Alternative and Augmentative Communication system (AAC) among children with Autism, or children with limited speech ability (Chua & Poon, 2018). It was first developed in 1985 by Lori Frost, a Speech Language Pathologist, and Dr. Andrew Bondy, from Delaware Autistic Program, in order to teach functional communication people with developmental delay, and language impairments (Chua & Poon, 2018). According to Chua and Poon (2018), these clients, regardless of communicative level, don’t engage in spontaneous communication as often as typically developing children. People with Autism are more likely to need verbal, or physical, prompting and modeling (Chua & Poon, 2018).
PECS is taught in six phases and eliminates verbal prompts during early teaching phases(Chua & Poon, 2018). A prompt partner is added, to help guide the child through the steps, transitioning from full, physical, hand-over-hand prompting, to a gestural prompt. This process is to prevent the client from being dependent on prompting. The learner will learn to initiate communication because the communication partner will withhold attention, and praise, until the learner exchanges the icon (Chua & Poon, 2018).
According to Chua and Poon (2018), the learner is taught to exchange the icon first, to increase spontaneous communication. After this is mastered, the learner is taught to discriminate between non-preferred items and highly-preferred items, and then, multiple high-preferred items. This method of alternative communication doesn’t require fine motor skills to communicate, like sign language does (Chua & Poon, 2018).
It has been proven that age, severity of Autism symptomology, and the level of mastery doesn’t predict spontaneous PECS use. This protocol is beneficial for all learners with Autism (Chua & Poon, 2018). Chua and Poon (2018), conducted a study, to determine the child characteristics that predict spontaneous PECS use, the teaching factors that predict spontaneous PECS use, and context in which PECS is taught being a predictor for spontaneous PECS use. This study determined the way PECS is taught has a correlation with more spontaneous communication (Chua & Poon, 2018).
Historical Overview
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a trademarked program of Pyramid Educational Products, which was founded by Andy Bondy, PhD, and Lori Frost, MS, CCC-SLP. Frost and Bondy developed this program in 1985, to help children with Aut