What is the best strategy to develop the communication skills of children with autism?PECS or Makaton signs?

Question

my friend has two children with autism.she just wants to know which is the best strategy to develop their communication skills.

Answer 1

PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. The picture symbols most commonly used are Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) and are made by Mayer Johnson's Boardmaker software. PECS uses picture representations of object, action, person, and attributes (descriptions). The picture representations can be in the form of PCS, photographs, Clip Art, magazine pictures, product labels, etc... Some children may do better using object representations instead of pictures but the exchange system remains the same.

The PECS training is a 2-3 day training for SLPs, teachers, and parents so it's difficult to give you detailed information in YA. If you would like more ideas/tips how to implement PECS properly, please e-mail me. I will be happy to help.

For PECS workshop and product information, go to http://www.pecs.com/index.php

I have used Makaton in the past and am not a big fan of it.  I find individuals with Autism learn best with visual supports in the form of pictures &/or written words.  As a speech-langauge pathologist, I would not recommend using PECS alone.  A multimodal approach is much more effective for functional communication.  Communication boards, picture schedules, social stories, repetition, literacy-based instruction, sign language/gestures, etc... are all beneficial in increasing expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language skills.

Answer 2

I think PECS is very similar to Boardmaker, I am familiar with Com pics, Makaton and Boardmaker, all of these communication aids are very good.

I guess it may depend on the child's ability to comprehend things, the good thing about Boardmaker & PECS is they are colourful and they have 1000's of images.

Makaton is easy as it is just hand signs, so is portable (nothing to carry), but people not familiar with this will not understand what the child is wanting. The other thing is that someone in the family needs to do a course in Makaton, which they can then teach family and friends the basics.

PECS and Boardmaker do come in travel sizes, easy to use for anyone not familiar with either, as these pictures are obvious and usually have a word such as "I want" underneath or above the picture.

If I had to choose one I would go for the PECS or Boardmaker, but I have had experience in Makaton and Boardmaker, many of my clients use both a mix of Makaton and Boardmaker.

Answer 3

Georgie PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System, the pictures may be board maker, photos, etc the main part is that they can be exchanged.

Your friend could use a combination or PECS and makaton. The PECS can be for anything as long as you have the picture but use makaton for certain things which need immediate input. So words like no, finish, wait etc as this cuts down on the amount of time a behaviour etc will go on as you have a way to tell the child something specific.

How old are the children? This will probably make a difference.  

Another thing is that one system may work with one child but not the other as children with autism are like any other children individual meaning that what works with one doesn't always work with another