Other Communicative Functions

Once students communicate requests and are able to differentiate and respond to the questions taught in Phases 5 and 6, they have developed some understanding and use of communication for social purposes. PECS can be used to teach additional skills to continue to increase functional communication. These include increasing phrase length, using a differentiated yes/no response, increasing the types of communicative functions and increasing vocabulary to include more complex language concepts. In PECS, vocabulary is not taught receptively or in isolation. New vocabulary and language concepts are introduced during communicative exchanges and embedded within sentence structures the student is already using.

Increasing vocabulary and phrase length

Students can be taught to use language concepts such as big/little, colors, shapes and numbers. Students do not have to demonstrate understanding of these concepts receptively before they are introduced as modifiers to ask for desired things. For example, one student loved fruit snacks and was proficient at using a sentence strip to request them. This student happened to have a preference for the yellow, lemon-flavored fruit snacks over the purple, grape-flavored ones. Pictures for “yellow” and “purple” were added to his communication book. The next time he used his sentence strip to ask for a fruit snack, the trainer read the strip and placed it in front of the child, and separating the two pictures on the strip to leave a space between them. She then held out a yellow fruit snack in one hand and a purple fruit snack in the other. When the student reached for the yellow fruit snack, the trainer pointed to the yellow picture on the book and prompted the student to take the yellow picture and place it between “I want” “fruit snack” on the sentence strip. She then read the strip out loud “I want yellow fruit snack.” and gave the student the yellow one.

Similarly, early number concepts may be introduced during an activity the student enjoys where quantity is important to the student. For example, one student enjoyed the Marbleworks toy and eagerly used a sentence strip to request marbles. A picture for “3” was placed on his communication book. The next time he used his sentence strip to request marbles, the adult held out her hands, one marble in her right hand and three marbles in her left. When the child reached for the hand holding three marbles, she pointed to the picture for “3” and the space between “I want” and “marble” on the sentence strip. The student placed the “3” on the strip and gave it to the adult, who reads the sentence strip “I want three marbles” and gave them to the student. Other language concepts can be taught initially in similar ways. As in earlier phases, prompts are quickly faded so the student becomes independent and spontaneous in using new concepts.

Teaching yes/no response to questions

Understanding the concept of yes/no can be very complex because comprehension of the question being asked varies according to the level of receptive language skills. When teaching the yes/no response to questions, it is useful to teach different types of yes/no questions separately. A yes/no question about the student’s desire is the most concrete and tangible type of yes/no question, and therefore recommended as the first form to teach. Begin by putting “yes” and “no” symbols on the student’s communication book. The trainer asks, “Do you want this?” while showing the specified item. If the student reaches for the item, the trainer points to the “yes” symbol to prompt the child to give it to the trainer. The trainer then reads the symbol and gives the item to the child. If the child does not reach for the item, the trainer prompts him to give the “no” symbol and reads it aloud. Later the question “Is this a ____?” can be taught using a similar procedure.

Expanding on communicative functions

The teaching procedure used in earlier phases can be used to teach other functions of communication such as greeting, showing, responding to a variety of questions and requesting information. For example, to teach greetings the trainer would put a “hello” symbol on the cover of the communication book with a picture (or printed name card) of one of the student’s favorite people. When the favorite person walked into the room, the trainer would prompt the student to arrange the phrase “Hello ___” on the sentence strip, approach the favorite person and hand him or her the strip. The favorite person is instructed to wait for the student to give the strip before greeting the child, thereby putting the child in the position of being the initiator of greetings. Students often learn this skill quickly, as it is a positive way to get attention. Photo (or name cards) of family members and friends can be added as appropriate. The use of greetings is a powerful prosocial skill for the student at home, school and community.

PECS can also be used to teach students to show others things that are of interest to them. A “look” symbol is used to teach this skill. A good time to introduce the skill is when the student has just completed an enjoyable task such as an art project. The trainer places the “look” symbol on the cover of the communication book with a photo (or name card) of a familiar person who is in the room. Upon completion of the task, the trainer comments positively on the student’s work and suggests that she “Show ___.” The trainer prompts the student to assemble the sentence strip to read “Look ____” and carry both the completed task and the sentence strip to the person pictured on the strip. When the student gives the partner the sentence strip, that person reads the strip out loud with the student, says, “O.K. let’s look,” and proceeds to share positive comments about the task with the student. Prompts from the trainer are faded as the student gains independence.

PECS can also be incorporated in teaching response to wh–questions (what, where, why, when, who). For instance, students can be taught to answer where questions using prepositions and what doing questions using verb phrases. Students can also be taught to ask for information using wh–questions. The basic principles used in PECS can be applied to teaching any new communication skill as the student progresses.

Key Points

• A student does not have to understand a new language concept before it is introduced as a modifier
• Continue to introduce new concepts in direct teaching lessons, quickly fade prompts and structure environment to promote generalization
• Yes/no question types should be introduced and taught separately
• The use of PECS can be applied to teach just about any new language concept appropriate to the student’s age and cognitive level

Helpful Tips:

• Utilize the student’s interest areas to expand skills. If shapes are a high interest area, use crackers in a variety of shapes (i.e., circle, triangle, oval) as a motivator to increase concept development and functional use of vocabulary.
• Use photos of significant people along with greeting and showing sentence strips to greatly increase the child’s interest and therefore the likelihood of maintaining an interaction. As it becomes more “routine,” the child may begin to initiate the communication without the cards.
• Keep it fun and interesting!