What is the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)?

PECS begins with teaching students to exchange a picture of a desired item with a teacher, who immediately honours the request. For example, if they want a drink, they will give a picture of 'drink' to an adult who directly hands them a drink. Verbal prompts are not used, thus encouraging spontaneity and avoiding prompt dependency.

The system goes on to teach discrimination of symbols and how to construct simple "sentences." Ideas for teaching commenting and other language structures such as asking and answering questions are also incorporated. It has been reported that both pre-school and older students have begun to develop speech when using PECS. The system has been successful with adolescents and adults who have a wide array of communicative, cognitive and physical difficulties.

It was developed over 20 years ago as a unique augmentative, alternative training package that allows children and adults with autism and other communication difficulties to initiate communication. First used in the United States, PECS has received worldwide recognition for focusing on the initiation component of communication.

The foundation for the system is the PECS Training Manual (Frost and Bondy 1994). The manual provides information to implement PECS effectively, guides readers through the 6 phases of training and provides examples, helpful hints for teaching discrimination and templates for data collection and progress reporting. There is also a video available, which provides a useful overview of the background and the six phases of PECS.

The Pyramid Approach to Education is a unique teaching method that establishes effective learning environments for children and adults with autism or related developmental disabilities and severe learning impairments. Created by Dr. Andrew Bondy, this system offers sound principles for those who teach, whether in a classroom or at home and importantly.emphasises how to teach, rather than simply what to teach.

It is a very systematic program that allows educators to individualise each child's learning environment.. It is one of the few approaches that encourage creativity and innovation on the teacher's part, and utilises a broad spectrum of behaviour analysis principles. Through the use of applied behavior analysis, the Pyramid approach provides the foundation for a positive environment for growth. It is based on two different types of learning structural and instructional.

Structural
Structural elements form the base of the Pyramid Approach, creating the necessary positive setting that will foster learning. They focus on functional activities and communication, powerful reinforcers, and behavior intervention plans.

Instructional
Instructional elements involve data-based decision making and include lesson formats, prompt strategies, error correction strategies (uniquely developed and suited to specific prompting strategies), and generalization.

When all of the elements of the educational pyramid are combined, this system results in success in a broad array of settings.

Phase I
Teaches students to initiate communication right from the start by exchanging a single picture for a highly desired item

Phase 2
Teaches students to be persistent communicators- to actively seek out their pictures and to travel to someone to make a request

Phase 3
Teaches students to discriminate pictures and to select the picture that represents the item they want

Phase 4
Teaches students to use sentence structure to make a request in the form of “I want ____.”

Phase 5
Teaches students to respond to the question “What do you want?”

Phase 6
Teaches students to comment about things in their environment both spontaneously and in response to a question

Expanding Vocabulary
Teaches students to use attributes such as colors, shapes and sizes within their requests