PECS is a system that allows autistic people to communicate more easily. It can be an incredibly useful tool to have in your autism arsenal, so I figured I’d cover some of the basics today. Many times therapists suggest using PECS with autistic children to help them communicate before they are verbal or before they master expressive language.

PECS stands for picture exchange communication system. Working with Autistic children these interests can be highly motivating.If you’ve been going to therapy with your child, there’s a big chance you’ve got some experience with PECS. In a special school it is essential to engage a child’s interests. If my students like a spinner or noisy shape tub then that’s what I am going to use to grab their attention and make sure they want to engage with the planned learning and interactions (So there). I work hard to create a classroom that is clearly a secondary classroom, but I want the drawers to be full of motivating, fun tasks that I do not have to be too precious over. They need motivating sounds, colours and textures. Children need tough toys that they can explore. You can have this debate in your centre/school but I personally think engagement trumps the perception that these are too childish.

A lot of these games and toys were designed for younger children than I work with. I have some thoughts on age appropriateness. I can heartily recommend Sarah Alderman’s blog for speech and language expertise and ideas. Most of these activities have been given the nod by our SALT and have passed the (essential) student test. I am not a speech and language therapist but work in a specialist school where communication is our primary focus. Click To Tweet Speech and Language therapy. All children deserve to have their communication needs met and a chance to use these with their peers. If you like this post please share it! I hope these resources help you support non-verbal communication in all forms. If you click any of the links and buy a product we will earn a little bit of money that helps towards hosting costs. All are free but some will require software to edit. This may be PECS (Picture exchange communication system) or Context specific boards for those students who have more speech. This page collates all the games and resources I have made/found to enhance the communication opportunities for all students but specially designed for AAC (Augmentative and alternative communication) users.

Pecs for autism free