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Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

2019

Department

Education

Faculty Advisor

Mark Brown

Abstract

Children on the moderate to severe end of the Autism Spectrum may experience difficulties communicating with their peers and adults in an Early Childhood Special Education classroom. This inability to effectively communicate may be due to their not being able to verbalize their thoughts. Therefore, they can't exchange meaningful information with another classmate or adult. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) refers to the use of images or symbols to express a thought for children who are not capable of communicating their concerns verbally in an Early Childhood Special Education classroom. PECS can be used to help a student with Autism communicate his thoughts through the symbolic presentation of one word (i.e., digital picture) or a set of connected pictures that are placed on a Velcro strip to represent a complete sentence. The effective use of PECS in the Early Childhood Special Education classroom can benefit children with Autism socially and academically, as well as in their daily lives.

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