What Goes in a Pecs Communication Book?

PECS is the acronym for Picture Exchange Communication System, designed for non-speaking children. It contains photographs, pictures, symbols and words to help them communicate.

Initial Step

• To teach the child to ask for what he needs, cartoon drawings are used to symbolize the most common desired objects, such as water, cookie, sleep, particular toys, television or books.

Use of Photographs

• As the child learns to communicate his wants, the drawings and pictures should be slowly replaced with digital photographs of the real item. This helps the child with generalization skills and teaches the foundation for the next steps.

Teaching Words

• Once photographs of desired items are mastered, words should be attached to describe the photographs. For example, a photo of a cookie will be accompanied by the word "cookie."

Sentences

• Once the exact word is understood, the communication book should be changed to show complete sentence. "I want a cookie" replaces "cookie," and "I want to go home" replaces "home."

Phasing Out Photos

• Eventually, a PECS communication can utilize only words. Photos will be faded out to build a book of only words, and the originally non-communicative child has a method of communicating. Pointing to the phrase, "I want a cookie" is understood by the majority of the population; even if the child does not develop spoken language, she is able to communicate with society using a PECS notebook.