Picture Exchange Communication System - PECS

What is PECS?

 

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a widely popular communication training program for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other communication disorders.

 

Using PECS, expressive communication skills are targeted through the training of requests and later, comments.  As Bondy and Frost (1994) describe, "children using PECS are taught to approach and give a picture of a desired item to communicative partner in exchange for that item.  By doing so, the child initiates a communicative act for a concrete item within a social context."

 

In the PECS program, a child's expressive communication abilities are shaped via the use of reinforcement, delay, and generalization across therapists and sessions.  Language Essentials, Inc. has extensive training in PECS and utilizes it in cases where it is deemed an appropriate therapy method to achieve speech and language goals.

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