PECS In Autism

Improved Essays
One of the common features of children with autism is a difficulty with speech and communication. There are many different treatments that are used to help individuals with autism communicate. One of the popular choices is Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). PECS is a communication system using simple pictures and behavioral principles to help children with social-communication deficits. As such, it is often used with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who often benefit from behavior analytic principles including shaping and reinforcement. The benefits outlined include relatively simple motor movements for the speaker, the fact the materials are not as expensive as other methods, the amount of time to become proficient …show more content…
The three individuals were all boys who had speech scores equivalent to 1 year 9 months or less and all previous methods used to teach speech were ineffective. One subject was 12, one was 3 years 8 months, and one was 5 years 9 months old. All three were diagnosed with autism and the diagnosis was confirmed by two independent agencies. Each individual participated in “biweekly sessions at an after-school behavioral treatment program” (Charlop-Christy, Carpenter, Lee, Leblanc, & Kellet, 2002). The authors were not clear if the sessions occurred two times per week or once every two weeks, but it was likely the former as one session every two weeks does not seem to be appropriate. The data was collected prior to, during and post PECS training in order to get a comparison of the benefits staggering the start of the condition in order to more fully develop recognition of a functional relationship between the use of PECS and the increase of speech. The two settings in which these measurements were taken were free play time and academic …show more content…
This would seem appropriate in order to control for maturation effects (increasing speech over time in sessions). It was also good that they measured speech in both play (subject chosen activities) and academic (researcher chosen activities) activities in order to control for subject preference and demand situations. The researchers measured spontaneous speech as well as imitative speech which is also significant because in some cases a child will increase imitative speech, but not spontaneous speech. In these cases the increase in language would seem to be less beneficial since the goal would be for the individual to increase functional language to get his or her needs

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