PECS Phase 5: Answering “What do you want?”

Now you can finally ask, “What do you want?”! By this time the child or youth is spontaneously requesting a variety of objects or activities. This lesson will continue to encourage initiation as well as teaching the child to answer the question, “What do you want?”

Preparation

Have all the familiar items already: the communication board or book with the sentence strip, a variety of symbols, and reinforcing items that are available but out of reach of the child.

Procedure

Zero-second delay: The communication partner begins by simultaneously (zero-second delay) pointing to the “I want” card and asking “What do you want?” The goal is for the child to complete the sentence strip with the “I want” picture and follow through the exchange.

Increasing delay interval: As the child becomes more successful with follow-through, begin to increase the time interval. The communication partner should ask “What do you want?,” pause a short interval, and then point to the “I want” card. The goal is for the child to beat the prompt consistently by reaching for the “I want” card and sentence strip before the partner points.

No pointing cue: Once the child is able to beat the prompt, vary the opportunities for spontaneous requesting and responding to “What do you want?” The goal is for the child to do both without prompting.

The outcome of Phase 5 is for the child to answer the question “What do you want?” and spontaneously request a variety of items.

Key Points

• This is one of the easiest steps of PECS! The goal is to have the child answer the question “What do you want?”
• Alternate spontaneous requesting with responding to the verbal request “What do you want?”
• Continue to provide numerous opportunities each day for the child to request during functional, meaningful activities

Helpful Tips

• Remember to maintain spontaneous requesting
• As mentioned, one of the positive side outcomes of the PECS training is the increase in attending or eye contact. However, if the child is not directing his gaze or making eye contact to the communicative partner, a return to the 2-person training system may help guide the child to become more persistent in getting his partner’s attention (face-gazing/eye contact). The communicative partner should not automatically look at the child when he approaches with his sentence strip, but rather put his head down. The prompter can help the child tap the partner’s shoulder to get his attention, or gently touch the partner’s face. The communicative partner should then look up and respond (“Oh, it’s Mary”) and respond to the child’s request. After repeated trials, fade the physical assistance.