I recently came across a very cool imaging tool - The Rasterbator. Whether you simply want to dote on your kids' "larger-than-life" images on the wall in the form of giant posters, make giant visual teaching tools, or engage in some visual art production for yourself, this on or off-line resource is easy to use. Best of all it's free (not counting paper or toner for your laser printer of course).

PECS must be done EVERYWHERE - in school, in therapy and at home. Our kids NEED / thrive on consistency.

PECS is primarily used with individuals who are nonverbal or use speech with limited effectiveness to assist them in acquiring functional communication skills,

Children with autism, especially very young children, often have great difficulty using language to express themselves. Intense and highly structured interventions are necessary if useful language is ever to develop.

The key to successful use of PECS is in how children are taught to use pictures and other symbols to communicate rather than in merely filling the environment with many pictures.

A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the effects of training teachers of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Thirty-four children with ASDs (29 boys and 5 girls) were selected from eight specialist schools. Teaching staff attended a 2 day PECS workshop and received six half-day visits from PECS consultants. Data on the children's use of PECS, spontaneous communication, and adaptive behaviour were collected before the study and at set times following the workshop. Significant, rapid increases were recorded in the level of PECS attained by the children, in their PECS vocabulary, and in their frequency of PECS use over time. Improvements in children's general level of communication were slower to occur. The majority of participants showed improvements in their ability to use PECS. The results are discussed in relation to the methodological and practical difficulties that arose during the project.

Developers of the Picture Exchange Communication System

Results indicated that all 3 children met the learning criterion for PECS and showed concomitant increases in verbal speech.

The Picture Exchange Communication System or PECS approach is a modified applied behavior analysis program designed for early nonverbal symbolic communication training.