pecs

pecs

alternative communication system designed to improve functional communication, enabling children, especially those with ASD, to approach someone and deliver a message

pecs pre-programme preparation

important to figure out what individual sees as a reward

phase 1 of pecs

• learn to communicate with the psychical prompter and communicative partner using picture exchange

• psychical prompter will gradually reduce their assistance

phase 2 of pecs

• to encourage greater persistence, communicative partner is moved further away

• communication folder is introduced

• will learn how to start conversations by choosing appropriate pic from folder

phase 3 of pecs

• individual taught to discriminate between pictures

• learn to select pictures that correspond to their preference

phase 4 of pecs

• progress from using single pictures to constructing simple sentences

• e.g. use sentence strip starting ‘i want’ followed by picture

phase 5 of pecs

• taught to respond to questions like ‘what do you want’ by exchanging sentence strip

• eventually, can independently construct sentence strip and respond to question

phase 6 of pecs

• learn how to comment on surroundings using phrase like ‘i see’

• trainer reduces question prompts to encourage spontaneous commenting

after completion of pecs

• should be able to request items wanted, needed and comment on their environment

• can help with starting conversations with others