The picture exchange communication system

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Background:

• Autism and related developmental disabilities often impair functional communication.
• Traditional methods may not foster self-initiating communication effectively.
• Applied behavior analysis (ABA) principles inform effective communication interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) as a functional communication strategy.
• To highlight PECS's advantages over imitation-based and symbol selection methods.
• To review PECS's impact on social behavior, behavior management, and speech development.

Main Methods:

• PECS utilizes icon exchange to build communication skills.
• The system prioritizes teaching requesting before responding or commenting.
• It progresses from simple icon exchange to sentence structure development.

Main Results:

• PECS facilitates rapid acquisition of self-initiating communication.
• The system enables the development of sentence structure and attribute understanding.
• Potential positive correlations with social approach and speech co-development are noted.

Conclusions:

• PECS offers a structured, behaviorally-based approach for communication intervention in autism.
• Its emphasis on requesting and sentence building supports functional communication.
• Further review is needed on PECS's broader impact on behavior and speech.