A variety of strategies have been used to help children with autism acquire functional communication skills. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a unique communication training program that was developed as a means of circumventing some shortcomings associatd with these strategies. A description of the steps within PECS is provided. Long-term group data have indicated that a large proportion of children started on PECS as preschoolers acquire speech. Individual and group data supporting the use of PECS are provided.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
Bijou, S. W., & Baer, D. M. (1965). Child Development II: Universal stage of infancy. New York: Appleton Century Crofts.
3.
Bondy, A. (1987, May). Alternative and augmentative communication systems for autistic students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Nashville, TN.
4.
Bondy, A. (1988, May). Autism and initial communication training: How long have we been wrong? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Philadelphia.
5.
Bondy, A. (1989, May). The development of language via picture exchange system with very young children with autism. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Milwaukee, WI.
6.
Bondy, A. (1990, May). Error correction: Three novel approaches. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Nashville, TN.
7.
Bondy, A., & Battaglini, K. (1992). A public school for students with autism and severe handicaps. In S. Christenson & J. C. Conoley (Eds.), Home-school collaboration: Enhancing children's academic and social competence (pp. 223–242). Silver Spring, MD: NASP.
8.
Bondy, A., Finnegan, C. S., Ryan, L. F., & Wachowiak, J. E. (1989, November). Novel augmentative communication strategies with young and adolescent autistic students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech and Hearing Association, St. Louis, MO.
9.
Bondy, A., & Frost, L. (1993). Mands across the water: A report on the application of the picture-exchange communication system in Peru. The Behavior Analyst, 16, 123–128.
10.
Bondy, A., & Frost, L. (1994). The Delaware Autistic Program. In S. Harris & J. Handleman (Eds.), Preschool education programs for children with autism (pp. 37--54). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
11.
Bondy, A., & Frost, L. (in press).Educational approaches in preschool: Behavioral techniques in a public school setting. In E. Schopler & E. Mesibov (Eds.), Learning and cognition in autism.New York: Plenum.
12.
Bondy, A., & Peterson, S. (1990, May). The point is not to point: Picture-exchange communication system with young students with autism. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Nashville, TN.
13.
Bondy, A., & Ryan, L. (1991, May). Picture-exchange communication system: Its relationship to verbal behavior. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Atlanta, GA.
14.
Carr, E. (1982). Sign language. In R. Koegel, A. Rincover, & A. Egel (Eds.), Educating and understanding children with autism (pp. 142–157). San Diego: College-Hill.
15.
Carr, E. Binkoff, J., Kologinsky, E, & Eddy, E. (1978). Acquisition of sign language by children with autism: I. Expressive labeling. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11, 489–501.
16.
Carrier, J., & Peak, T. (1975). Non-SLIP (Non-Speech Language Initiation Program).Lawrence, KS: H & H Enterprises.
17.
Doss, S., & Reichle, J. (1989). Establishing communicative alternatives to the emission of socially motivated excess behavior: A review. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 14, 101–112
18.
Ferster, C. B. (1961). Positive reinforcement and behavioural deficits of children with autism. Child Development, 32, 437–456.
19.
Frankel, R., Leary, M., & Kilman, B. (1987). Building social skills through pragmatic analysis: Assessment and treatment implications for children with autism. In D. Cohen, A. Donnellan, & R. Paul (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (p. 333–359). New York: Wiley.
20.
Frost, L., & Bondy, A. (1992, August). The picture-exchange communication system: An interactive communication system. Paper presented at the meeting of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Philadelphia, PA.
21.
Guess, D., Sailor, W., & Baer, D. (1976). Functional speech and language training for the severely handicapped.Lawrence, KS: H & H Enterprises.
22.
Halle, J. W., Baer, D., & Spradlin, J. E. (1981). Teachers' generalized use of delay as a stimulus control procedure to increase language use in handicapped children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 14, 389–409.
23.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbance of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–250. Research Press.
24.
Kozloff, M. (1974). Educating children with learning and behavior problems.New York: Wiley.
25.
Krug, D. A., Arick, J. R., & Almond, P. J. (1980). Behavior checklist for identifying severely handicapped individuals with high levels of autistic behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 21, 221–229.
26.
Lovaas, O.I. (1977). The autistic child: Language development through behavior modification.New York: Irvington.
27.
Mirenda, P., & Dattilo, J. (1987). Instructional techniques in alternative communication for students with severe intellectual handicaps. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 3, 143–152.
28.
Popovich, D. (1981). Effective educational and behavioral programming for severely and profoundly handicapped students.Baltimore: Brookes.
29.
Powers, M. S., & Handleman, J. D. (1984). Behavioral assessment of severe developmental disabilities.Rockville, MD: Aspen.
30.
Reichle, J., & Sigafoos, J. (1991). Establishing an initial repertoire of requesting. In J. Reichle, J. York, & J. Sigafoos (Eds.), Implementing augmentative and alternative communication strategies for learners with severe disabilities (pp. 89–114). Baltimore: Brookes.
31.
Reichle, J., Sigafoos, J., & Piche, L. (1989). Teaching an adolescent with blindness and severe disabilities: A correspondence between requesting and selecting preferred objects. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 14, 75–80.
32.
Reichle, J., York, J. & Eynon, D. (1989). Influence of indicating preferences for initiating, maintaining, and terminating interactions. In F. Brown & D. H. Lehr (Eds.), Persons with profound disabilities: Issues and practices (191–211). Baltimore: Brookes.
33.
Reichle, J., York, J., & Sigafoos, J. (1991). Implementing augmentative and alternative communication strategies for learners with severe disabilities.Baltimore: Brookes.
34.
Rowland, C., & Schweigert, P. (1989). Tangible symbols: Symbolic communication for individuals with multisensory impairments. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 5, 226–234.
35.
Romanczyk, R. G., Matey, L., & Lockshin, S. B. (1994). The Children's Unit for Treatment and Evaluation. In S. Harris & J. Handleman (Eds.), Preschool education programs for children with autism (pp. 181–223). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
36.
Ryan, L. (1990, February). Picture-based augmentative communication systems for autistic students. Paper presented at the Mid-South Conference on Communicative Disorders, Memphis, TN.
37.
Ryan, L., & Bondy, A. (1988, May). Beginning picture-based communication systems with very young children with autism. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Philadelphia
38.
Ryan, L., Bondy, A., & Finnegan, C. (1990, November). Please don't point! Interactive augmentative communication systems for young children. Paper presented at the American Speech and Hearing Association, Seattle, WA.
39.
Ryan, L., Finnegan, C., McLaughlin, D., Swanson, C., & Wachowiak, J. (1987, May). Overview of picture-based communication systems with autistic students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Nashville, TN.
40.
Sidman, M., & Stoddard, L. (1967). The effectiveness of fading in programming a simultaneous form discrimination for retarded children. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 10, 261–270.