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Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
- Jul 8, 2007 at 7:11 AM
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If your child has limited vocabulary, he may do very well with PECS! My son first "spoke" with PECS at 19 mos. I went to a seminar to learn it, but you can learn how to do it with the ST or behaviour/developmental therapist. It is very easy and since our kids are so visual, they usually catch on fast.
Alex started to speak after we started the PECS. It organized his thinking, he was able to have a visual to go with the word we said. He actually was using 2-3 word sentences within 9 months, and by then he was speaking so fast and his vocabulary was good enough that he stopped using it on his own.
We tried sign language, but he liked the pictures more. He knew a few signs, but within the first 15 min of PECS he "said" his first word! He actually learned at least 5 new picture words a day. His frustration levels became very low because he could communicate.
I say why not try all methods, and see what works, and since he has some words, either PECS or sign will lead into more verbal communication. And you can use the same pics for later in visual aides.
One thing nice about PECS is that anyone can understand them, so any caretaker can easily understand what he wants, with signing, people have to learn it, and not all caretakers maybe able to do that.
I say go for it! You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain!
Karen:)
I forgot to mention that a lot of our kids have a problem actually saying the words, it is a physical problem within their brain, and this can bypass this problem. If their brains and neural pathways are not ready, no matter what you do, you can't make them speak. If they have motor planning delays, like a lot of our kids, the signing may be too difficult to get from the brain to the hands to actually do the sign, making signing difficult. That is what a few speech therapists told me.
Alex started to speak after we started the PECS. It organized his thinking, he was able to have a visual to go with the word we said. He actually was using 2-3 word sentences within 9 months, and by then he was speaking so fast and his vocabulary was good enough that he stopped using it on his own.
We tried sign language, but he liked the pictures more. He knew a few signs, but within the first 15 min of PECS he "said" his first word! He actually learned at least 5 new picture words a day. His frustration levels became very low because he could communicate.
I say why not try all methods, and see what works, and since he has some words, either PECS or sign will lead into more verbal communication. And you can use the same pics for later in visual aides.
One thing nice about PECS is that anyone can understand them, so any caretaker can easily understand what he wants, with signing, people have to learn it, and not all caretakers maybe able to do that.
I say go for it! You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain!
Karen:)
I forgot to mention that a lot of our kids have a problem actually saying the words, it is a physical problem within their brain, and this can bypass this problem. If their brains and neural pathways are not ready, no matter what you do, you can't make them speak. If they have motor planning delays, like a lot of our kids, the signing may be too difficult to get from the brain to the hands to actually do the sign, making signing difficult. That is what a few speech therapists told me.
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