Pecs ??

[kat]

Anyone familiar with the Picture Exchange Communication System? I will be using it next year with an autistic child I'll have mainstreamed all day into my classroom. He does not have meaningful speech and this is the program we will use. My problem is that the workshop for the program is not until late Sept. We won't start using it until the Speech Therapist, Aide, Mom and I are all properly trained.

I was wondering if there was anything I could do in the interim.

[netmechwife]

Could you explain a little more how it works? I think my mil used it with one of her tutoring students who was autistic. I will check with her. Don't know how soon I can get back to you though. Do you need any other ideas on what has helped in working with autism. I can check with her on that too if you would like...

[Leigh]

kat, I have heard of it a little through the daycare center I used to work at. What they told us was that you set up a chart of pictures. For example a child washing his hands or putting on his coat. Then when you want the child to do one of those items you point to the picture. We had an autistic child in the center and it was helpful for him.I hope this is what you were talking about, and I hope that this helps.

[angie r]

I have a friend that is getting ready to implement this program with her son. What Leigh said is right about the pictures. My friends son will point at his mom's eyebrows and say "grass." She will tell him eyebrows and he will say it but the next time she asks he doesn't remember anymore and will say grass. This child will totally recite a book or a video over and over, word for word though. In his pre-school class he has to pick out the picture of what he wants to do. A picture of coloring, playing, reading out of a basket and hand it to the teacher/saying the word. The same goes with food. His mom has pictures of food on the frig and he picks out what he wants to eat/saying the word.

I am sorry I don't know a whole lot about it, but these are some of the things I remember her telling me.