"Brief report: increase in production of spoken words in some children with autism after PECS teaching to Phase III".
The context for this work was an evaluation study [Carr, D., & Felce, J. A. (in press)] of the early phases of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) [Frost, L. A., & Bondy, A. S. (1994). The picture exchange communication system training manual. Cherry Hill, NJ: Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc.; Frost, L. A., & Bondy, A. S. (2004). The picture exchange communication system training manual, 2nd edn. Newark, DE: Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc.]. This paper reports that five of 24 children who received 15 h of PECS teaching towards Phase III over a period of 4-5 weeks, showed concomitant increases in speech production, either in initiating communication with staff or in responding, or both. No children in the PECS group demonstrated a decrease in spoken words after receiving PECS teaching. In the control group, only one of 17 children demonstrated a minimal increase and four of 17 children demonstrated a decrease in use of spoken words after a similar period without PECS teaching.
Carr
Deborah
D
Welsh Centre for Learning Disabilities, Division of Psychology, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF14 3BG, S. Wales, UK. debcarr60@hotmail.com
Felce
Janet
J
D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004519:Education, Special / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014852:Wales