Data on Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
I have on several occasion implemented the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for small children with autism, and on some occasions for elder persons with mental retardation and/or autism with success. Not all has reached all the levels in PECS, but it has always gave the persons a means of communication, and as far as I can see improving their every day life.
In the current issue of Focus on Autism and other Developmental Disorders, Beth Sulzer-Azaroff for University of Massachusetts and Hoffman, Horton, Bondy and Frost from Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc. published a summary of the research done on PECS up to now. They analyzed thirty-four peer-reviewed reports, and their findings suggest:
that PECS is providing people around the globe who have no or impaired speech with a functional means of communication.
The article gives a great overview of the research done on PECS over the years, and the authors suggest several areas for further research. I specially appreciate and support their suggestion on conducting more research on the influence on the behavior analytic component in PECS, as i always has emphasized the analysis of the communicative behavior in implementing PECS.
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