setting up pecs in the classroom
DESCRIPTION
An overview of the Picture Exchange System and how it can be used to support young people with communication difficulties within a classroomTRANSCRIPT
Implementing PECS within the Mainstream
What makes it hard for children to communicate and why PECS meets these needs
Integrating PECS within the school environment: 4 things to consider
PECS, Phases and implementation
Developing the prosthetic environment
Creating communicative opportunities
Collaboration
Why is it hard for children to communicate?
• Learning new words.• Remembering vocabulary.• Putting longer sentences together.• Understanding new ‘concepts’ (colours, sizes,
shapes, verbs etc).
• Using language socially: for example making requests and sharing information.
• Using language across different settings
How Do these Difficulties Manifest?
Not trying to communicate
Use of non-verbal communication
strategies to communicate
Learned helplessness: “Everything gets done
for me”
No control over their decisions
Self Harm?
Frustration
Lack of experience in communicating
Confrontation, tantrums,
‘behavioural difficulties’
Loss of independence – reliance on others
Why is PECS successful?
• Depends on visual not auditory information.• Permanent vocabulary - words don’t fade away.• Gives visual meaning to abstract vocabulary.• Uses children’s own interests in meaningful
settings.• Encourages independent and ‘social’
communication.• Communication can be successful because it
doesn’t rely solely on language.
Why is PECS successful?
• Language is formulated internally before it is constructed
• Emphasis is on successful, independent communication rather than use of spoken language
• Preliminary studies show that PECS can support spoken language development
• Allows children to rehearse their language before they say it
• Doesn’t rely on pre teaching lots of vocabulary. Children can ‘say what they see’
Aims of successful communication systems
• Integration into the mainstream environment:– Increases independence– Meaningful communication system– Spontaneous communication– Meaningful relationships on an appropriate level– Enabling students to contribute to class lessons
• The child works through 6 phases as part of the structured programme.
• Each phase is completed in sequence before you move onto the next phase.
• Each child moves through the phases at their own pace.
• Social exchanges taught
Picture Exchange Communication System
Teaching PECS phases
Increasing Communicative Opportunities
Developing the Prosthetic Environment
Integrated use of PECS
Joint ownership of planning and evaluation
4 layers needing to be developed simultaneously
Teaching PECS:
Targets and requirements
Phase 1 Preparation
• Commitment to carry out 35+ exchanges a day from staff and/or family
• Accurate re-inforcer assessment
• Put all of the motivators in a box accompanied by symbols
Winners:
Balloons Food Balloons with water inside
Squidgy toys Noise chutes Things with buttons that make a noise
Bubbles instruments Things that flash
Watch what the child does to self occupy
By the end of Phase 1 students will be able to independently hand over a picture to request an object from a range of different people
2 people: at least 1 trained with PECS.
Accurate motivator assessment completed.
35 + structured opportunities for exchanges.
Student’s own motivator box labelled and visible, continuously added to.
Bank of sensory bags.
Moving towards concept of prosthetic environment: PECS book always on display in a consistent place
Activity:• Work in 3’s
• Teacher holds item and open hand out for student
• Prompter waits for student to initiate, if not, then prompt the exchange
• Teacher reinforces IMMEDIATELY
Student Prompter
Teacher
By the end of Phase 2 students will identify who has an object they want, approach them and hand over a picture to request what they want.
2 members of staff: prompter’s role to ensure distance and persistence.
Ongoing use of strong motivators.
May start introducing peer exchanges i.e. at a ‘snack shop’
Begin thinking about communicative temptations corresponding with environmental choice boards (with only 1 displayed symbol though)
By the end of Phase 3 students will be able to look in a communication book, choose from many pictures and take the relevant picture to an adult to make a request.
Use of strong motivators v’s non preferred / contextually irrelevant
Building up a range of familiar activities throughout the day; snack, jigsaws, play (Intensive Interaction Type)
Formalise existing idiosyncratic communication
Communication should be entrenched within all activities
Choice boards can be built up to contain a small range of pictures
Evaluate discrimination through correspondence checks
Preferred item v’s blank symbol
Preferred item v’s non preferred item
Preferred item v’s contextually inappropriate symbol
Preferred item v’s preferred item
Hierarchy when introducing discrimination
Correspondance checks
4 step error correction:
2 or 3 at the most for one error
If student fails a correspondence check then use 4 step error correction
Step Teacher Student
Entice with both items
Gives incorrect picture
Give corresponding item
Reacts negatively
MODEL or SHOW Show or tap picture: student looks at target picture
PROMPT Hold open hand near target picture or physically prompt
Gives target picture
Praise (do not give item)
SWITCH ‘Do this’
Perform switch
REPEAT Entice with both items
Gives correct picture
Praise and give item
4 step error correction Procedure
Activity:• Work in 2’s
Practice 4 step error correction procedure
TeacherStudent
Correspondence checks
STEP TEACHER STUDENT
Entice with both items
Gives picture
‘Take it’, ‘Go Ahead’
Reaches for wrong item
Block Access
MODEL, SHOW or PROMPT
Holds open hand near picture
Gives target picture
Praise (do not give item)
CHANGE ‘Do this’, ‘Touch…’ etc
Performs action
REPEAT Entice with both items
Gives picture
‘Go Ahead’ etc
Takes correct item
Allow access, praise, label
Activity:• Work in 2’s
Practice Correspondence Checks
TeacherStudent
Formalise existing non verbal
communication skills
Teach new communication
skills
Teaching Formal Communication Skills
Can you replace communicative behaviours such as pulling, vocalising ‘negative behaviours’ etc
with PECS?
Is the communication skill you want to teach useful and
motivating for your child?
“Communication has to be motivating” Scot Greathead 2005
Planning on developing a student’s communication
skills.Activity: Deciding on which communication skills you can develop within the classroom setting
1. Decide whether or not you want to teach a new skills or change existing communicative behaviour.
2. Complete a worksheet.
By the end of Phase 4 students will be able to make a sentence from pictures and take it to an adult to make requests.
As before but using sentence strips, should still be reinforcing requests with immediate rewards.
A range of activities across the school day based around play and academic subjects – moving towards requests being an intrinsic part of sessions
Environmental adaptations with corresponding choice boards should be well established to encourage spontaneous communication
Sentence StructureRemove ‘I want’
symbol
Place on the sentence strip
Remove reinforcer symbol
Place on the sentence strip
Remove sentence strip
Give strip to partner
Support:
You can have the ‘I want’ already on the sentence strip so you’re just teaching to bring the reinforcer symbol down first
If student puts pictures in the wrong order then back step
Student points to pictures as teacher speaks: DO NOT DEMAND SPEECH
By the end of Phase 5 you will be able to ask your students ‘What do you want?’ and they will use their communication book to answer you.
As before but introducing a question prompt
Communicative temptations and sabotage should now feature regularly
Communication can become more problem solving i.e. asking what do you want when student are displaying behavioural difficulties, anxiety, stress etc. Needs to be accompanied with symbols though. (ECB’s)
Range of symbols continually extending for each setting – still led by students interests and motivators
By the end of phase 6 students will be commenting on things within their environment using ‘I hear, I see, It’s’
I see + ______
Commenting as a language function may not be spontaneous as the reward is ‘social’. Try to shape a ‘surprise’ response into a comment. Comments therefore need to be tied into the students range of interests:
Contrived settings:
Surprise boxes Photo albums
All About Me Books Commenting Posts
Commenting stations Big Books
Need symbols representing family, friends and characters
I hear + _______
You may want to start with sounds you know the students can identify i.e. listening tapes
Alternating between starters
Instruments in different sized/coloured boxes: student choose box then listen to see if they can name the sound.
Pictures in boxes with coloured shapes on them: student requests shape then names what they see.
Students choose a particular book before a commenting exercise.
Students choose a coloured tape with a particular sound on.
Attributes
• Attributes serve to make request more specific• Allow students to develop additional semantic
information related to a request• Essential that they are generalised across
different settings• Size is relative so may be harder to teach
Making Sentences Longer
I want blue pen
I want red sweet
I want big balloon
I want Tweenies video
I want 3 biscuits
I want wheels on the bus song
I want throw ball
I want triangle paper
I want loud singing
I want cold water
I want yellow drink
I want soft ball
I want small brick
I want play Thom
Communication is learning
Requesting• Choosing cause and
effect toys• Counters within maths• Food within snack• Games within PE• Jigsaw pieces• Contrived opportunities
through sabotage etc
•Try to incorporate elements of communication within each lesson
Commenting• Big books in literacy• ‘All About Me’ Books• ‘Surprise’ game • On the weather• Videos • Computer games
Using Symbols to Develop Expressive Language
No
Yes No
Is your child able to exchange a picture to get a desired response?
Does your child use communication spontaneously across different settings
Develop Vocabulary: Look at existing routines Look at associated
vocabulary
Add attributes: Size, shape, colour,
number, your child’s own.
PECS phase 2 - 3 Adapt the
environment Re-examine
motivators
Work through PECS phases 1
Develop problem solving skills through: Teaching “Help!” Sabotaging routines
Teach Commenting: I see… I hear… I am… It’s…
Create opportunities to comment spontaneously within a ‘natural setting’
Ongoing development of Vocabulary Attributes Combining attributes Problem solving skills
Introduce prompt “What do you want?”
Introduce “How many?”, “What colour? etc
Introduce “What can you hear/see?” “What are you doing?”
Scot Greathead 2005
Extending PECS• Important that PECS is considered to be pupils’
communication system – represents a cultural shift.
Communicating about themselves
• Supporting talking about themselves– All about me books
• I see• Today at school/home I (news sharing)
• Context based commenting boards, mats, big books
• Empowering choices– Interactive schedules– Choice boards– Reflecting on the lesson / day
• I liked/didn’t like
Additional Skills to reinforce PECS
• Critical Communication Skills:
• Requesting ‘Help’
• Requesting ‘I need a break’
• Requesting a reward for ‘I am working for’
• Contributing to ‘interactive schedules’
• Refer to 9 Critical Communication Skills
Colourful Semantics A system for supporting:
spoken and written language comprehension
vocabulary development
literacy hour
• Certain types of words are colour coded – students then use a sequence of colours to guide their sentence construction
• Tied in with commenting posts / windows / big books at Hatton
Supporting Literacy
• Use to prompt language when using sequencing cards
• Developing a sight vocabulary: Fade the size of the picture and increase the size of the text
Developing the prosthetic environment
• An adapted environment aimed at increasing understanding, communication and independence.
• Recognises the differences in the way individuals think and learn - the environment, social demands and attitudes of others may be contributing to difficulties developing communication skills and independence.
• Applies to an environment that favours normalisation.
• Prevent disabilities from becoming handicaps - ‘help to do’ rather than ‘do for’.
• Includes accessible communication systems.
Rita Jordan 2002 - Autistic Spectrum Disorders
The Prosthetic Environment:
A compatible prosthetic environment
Accessible communication systems Commenting prompts
Supporting choice making Labelling ensures a shared understanding
Putting vocabulary into context
Encourage choice making
Context based communication boards
To communicate feelings To bridge communication breakdown
Interactive schedulesStudent involvement in negotiating their own time
Support development of planning, organising and choice making
Increasing Communicative Opportunities
Creating the need to communicate
• The classroom environment:• Consider putting child locks/locking on
cupboard doors etc• Food in containers with tight lids/high on
shelves• Lock doors i.e. restricting access to the • Take control over activities: only let
pupils have a toy for a certain amount of time before they need to ask for it again
Don’t make items accessible:• Motivators on a high shelf/cabinet• Rotate access to toys by putting
them on high shelves in boxes or in boxes with lids on. Mark the boxes with a symbol: children can request them with a corresponding symbol from a choice boards.
• Offer small portions/one item of food at a time to create the need to ask for ‘more’
Creating the need to communicate
Creating the need to communicate
• Always offer choices • Stop co-operating: if you’re playing a repetitive
game, pushing a swing, etc Children will need to communicate they want ‘more’
• Make deliberate mistakes: do something wrong, give children the wrong item. Can they communicate what they wanted?
Sabotage!• Making unexpected changes within a familiar
routine can introduce the need to communicate.• Give work with no pencil, juice carton without a straw
or an unopened bag of crisps.• Putting a favourite toy/food in a clear box with a lid
they can’t open• Hide favourite toys and offer a ‘menu’ of items.• Tell children to do something you know they will
need help with i.e. get a coat which is out of reach• ‘Wait’ – see what happens! Will children bridge the
break in the routine.
Joint Ownership: planning and evaluation
Pupil……………………………………………. Date:……………………………
Use of PECS
Symbols? Photographs Symbols Photograph/symbol mix Text
Phase 1 2 3 a 4 5 6
b
Size Structured Activities Colour Structured activities
Attributes Spontaneously spontaneously
Shape Structured Activities Number Structured activities
Spontaneously spontaneously
Combinations
eg:
No + colour
size + shape
Other and a the please
vocabulary
Settings Snack Dinner PE Soft Play Sherbourne
Sensory Room Curricular Activities Communication Book Home
Key:
Unshaded: Not relevant Diagonal Shading: Working towards Shaded: Achieved
Starters
Structured activities
Structured activities
spontaneously
I am
I haveStructured activities
spontaneouslyIt's
Structured activities
spontaneously
I wantspontaneously
I like/don't likeStructured activities
spontaneously
I seeStructured activities
spontaneouslyI hear
Structured activities
spontaneously
Evaluating PECS
Scot Greathead 2005
Critical Communication Skills
Request Help No With prompts Spontanteosly
Request Break No With prompts Spontaneously
Use a checklist No With prompts Without Support 1 2 3 4 5 6
(number of items)
Use 'I am working for' No With prompts Without support 1 2 3 4 5
(number of tokens)
Responds to 'wait' No With prompts Without support
Key:
Unshaded: Not relevant Diagonal Shading: Working towards Shaded: Achieved
Evaluating Critical Communication Skills
School need to be involved in identifying communicative opportunities, planning, implementation and evaluation of PECS
Scot Greathead 2005
Generalisation within Mainstream• Shared vision and culture
• Training issues?• Requires a dedicated and
evolving prosthetic environment to support independence and develop understanding and use of language
• To successfully integrate PECS into school there needs to be ‘ownership’ and commitment from the school
• Visual support considered an integral part to accessing the curriculum for all students
Involving teachers and parents in implementing
PECS• Generalisation of skills means children learn how to communicate quicker
• Give parents the opportunity and skills to choose which skills they want to develop at home to help communication
• The same, consistent communication system gives a clear message to children about how to communicate
• Can parents feed into Hatton parent workshop sessions?
• HOR build up a bank of session plans to share
Involving teachers and parents in implementing
PECS• Basic understanding required• Better if student is exchanging spontaneously• Is there a commitment to developing a supportive
communicative environment?• Meaningful: careful assessment of setting communication
is to be implemented in • Begin by formalising existing non verbal communication
skills – consider communicative temptations• Video exactly the students are able to do to support
modelling
When is somebody ‘past’ PECS?
Time
Spoken language
Use of PECS
Continues to underpin language learning, choice
making, sentence construction, syntax,
narrative literacy etc May continue alongside colourful
semantics.
Spontaneous language is more frequent but still presents with poor vocabulary, difficulties with word retrieval, reduced sentence lengths
Scot Greathead 2005
Why it is important to maintain PECS skills
• Are students going to have successful opportunities to formulate written sentences at other times?
• To learn language students need to internally process and independently formulate grammar and syntax
• Supports independent learning: students can rehearse at the own pace
• Culture supports visual representations of language ‘as the norm’
• Link in with schemes like colourful semantics• Use as a vehicle for teaching syntax and grammar• Good for students’ status