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Any family dealing with autism can tell you that communication is difficult, at best. My family was really struggling until I met Sheila, the mother of a child in my son Stephen Early Intervention class. Stephen had just been diagnosed with autism, and all the lingo and therapies were totally new to me. Sheila suggested Pécs-the Picture Exchange Communication System. Immediately, I was intrigued because it’s so hard to see my other children get frustrated when they try to include Stephen in their activities. Sheila said she bought the picture playback in bookstores and shops education, but I thought I would try to have other children my make photo cards Stephen so they could finally feel involved in his treatment and education, and learn more about autism, its the process.
The idea seemed so simple I can not believe I did not think about it, use pictures to communicate with autistic children. For autistic children, making images more sense than spoken words. When we speak, there is so much to explain the tone of voice, pitch, inflection … all is lost in Stephen. I was so excited about the idea that I stopped at the office supply store on the way home and picked up a few packs of large index cards and CD-ROM full of teaching pictures. As soon as I got home, I told the whole family about PECS, and everyone had to work on the video player. First we started with only a few key cards so everyone got the hang of the system. I learned all I could about PECS, autistic children, and photos.
Sheila told me to expect results relatively soon, but I will never forget the time Stephen really caught on PECS and showed me a picture of a drink when he was thirsty. It was then that I realized that living with autistic children is a two-way street: you think you are to teach them, but mostly, they really teach you. After I was convinced that the Picture Exchange Communication System would really work for our family, I began to do even more research and speak with even more professional. Some autistic children who have experience of PECS in early childhood do some recovery verbal ability, and most will eventually be able to use much more complicated PECS to communicate when they get older.
Now use the Picture Exchange Communication System to communicate basic needs and desires; we have also recently introduced a family plan using PECS. I spoke to a special education teacher and visit the classroom where Stephen will be in first grade next year, and I was quite pleased to see that they would be using a version of PECS. His teachers were impressed with my knowledge of PECS and Stephen mastery of the basic idea to use pictures to communicate. Go to school for a full-day is going to be a huge adjustment for Stephen (and for me), but since we started using pictures to communicate, he is comfortable with it and will be able to succeed in his class; He is already on track to significantly improve his verbal communication.
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