Augmentative Communication Systems-Sign Languages, PECS

Preliminary Thesis A lot of people don’t realize the challenges of living with a child who has been diagnose with Autism can be. It is a twenty-four-hour seven day a week job no vacation, no sick time and no pay. From the time the child is diagnosed it is a constant worry especially if the parents don’t know much about the condition. It starts with continuous Doctor visits, social services, and therapy sessions, just to figure out how serious the condition may be and what level of the disability the child has and this is only this beginning. Next, to find the tools the child needs to overcome the disability, like learning development and cognitive process, social skills, comprehension capabilities, and many more depending on the severity of autism.

Introductory awareness of Autistic Spectrum Conditions Understand the areas in which individuals with an autistic spectrum conditions characteristically have difficulties 1.1. Describe the types of difficulty that individuals with an autistic spectrum condition may have with language and other ways of communicating The effects of autism on communication are extremely varied. Most individuals do not have any trouble with pronunciation. The problems lie in using language effectively. Common problems are lack of eye contact, poor attention, being able to point objects to others, and difficulty with the 'give and take' in normal conversation. Some individuals sometimes use language in unusual ways, retaining features of earlier

People with Autism can have difficulties with trying to make friends. They tend to appear cold and aloof, and they prefer to be alone. [2] The service user will have difficulties talking to others and the service user might need other ways of communicating for example, they might need PECS to help them. The Picture Exchange Communication System helps people who struggle with their speech and need help identifying everyday things. PECS also helps the service user spell and distinguish different letters and their sounds.

Have you ever experience a moment when you were unable to communicate your words, or couldn’t think of the word to use the feeling you were trying to describe? Everyone has felt this way before, possibly multiple times per day. But the reality is for the people in our community with autism, this is a constant feeling of difficulty to communicate effective with others. The people that are diagnosed with autism face the daily obstacles of being unable to use their voice and having to learn different ways to read body language and tone of voice, something that comes fairly easy to most of us. The communication barriers facing people with autism enable us to work past the differences and find a new way of communicating that is effective for them.

As a manager of a large residential service and working with a varied range of groups and individuals, communication is a vital part of how we care and support the people we work with. Communication affects my work setting in many ways, with the service user, their families, friends, social

Children with autism often can not make connections that other kids make easily. For example,

Autism disorder has become one of the most troubling conditions in young children. Those children suffering from this condition are known to experience physical challenges such as; self-injury, physical aggression, property destruction, along with other challenges. Autistic behaviors are likely to cause harm to affected children and this harm can

H., Carpenter, M., Le, L., LeBlanc, L. A., & Kellet, K. (2002). Using the picture exchange communication system (PECS) with children with autism: Assessment of PECS acquisition, speech, social‐communicative behavior, and problem behavior. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 35(3), 213-231.

Unit 253 1.1 People with autism experience what professionals call the Triad of Impairments, part of this trio is communication. They have difficulty processing and remembering verbal information. Problems lie in using language effectively, Common problems are lack of eye contact, poor attention, being able to point objects to others, and difficulty with the 'give and take ' in normal conversation. Some individuals sometimes use language in unusual ways, retaining features of earlier stages of language development for long periods or throughout their lives. Some speak only single words, while others repeat a mimicked phrase over and over The body language of people with autism can be difficult for other people to understand. Facial

Erena Cabal SPA 3472 November 1, 2016 Using Pictures to Communicate There are many different obstacles autism spectrum individuals have to overcome in their daily lives; social insecurities, eye contact, appropriate spatial awareness etc. But in most cases, their biggest hurdle is mostly their communication skills; it’s been shown that communication impairment is at the heart of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and that children with ASD can show a wide range of communication skills as discussed by Agius and Vance (2015). According to Agius and Vance, there is up to a 30% positive diagnosis of children with ASD who will forever remain nonverbal (no consistent verbal communication). With such a high percentage of ASD children it is recommended that their communication and learning needs are to be addressed by using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), it has been shown as an effective intervention that addresses individuals with ASD and their learning and communication needs (Ogletree, Morrow-Odom, & Westling, 2015). PECS has helped children and young adults with ASD communicate with those around them; their teachers, peers, parents etc.

Some research has shown that teaching sign language to students with autism has helped them

requesting, speaking, etc.). These deficiencies affect everyday interactions, and their ability to communicate wants/needs, which can lead to a child engaging in maladaptive behaviors, if they have gone a long enough without having a viable means to communicate what they want. The deficits they experience can also lead to communication difficulties for younger siblings. Based on the current literature, and the articles included above, one can conclude when a practitioner implements an FCT intervention correctly, it is a viable, and useful, treatment method to utilize when working to increase the communication abilities of children who have an ASD diagnosis. Functional Communication Training covers a broad range of treatments; a commonly used treatment is the PECS intervention. PECS is a picture-based, multi-step intervention where a child is required to hand over the picture card of the toy they want to earn. From the literature, one can deduce that PECS, and other picture identification systems, are useful when it comes to decreasing a child's maladaptive behaviors, and increasing a child's communication abilities, specifically their requesting skills. When a child has a way to request the item they want, they are less likely to take part in the behaviors that previously occurred when they didn't have a way to communicate their wants. Meaning,

Communication is significant issue for many children with autism. They do not contact with other people clearly, and they also have many issues in using the language correctly. In the article “Cerebellum, Language, and Cognition in Autism and Specific Language Impairment” Hodge (2010) writes that children with autism have difficulties

To encourage the development of social skills students are encouraged to interact with one another throughout the day in a variety of methods, including partner work, small group activities, and large group activities. These teaching techniques enable autistic children to relate to their peers. As autistic children relate to their peers more they are more accepted and in turn continue to learn and acquire new and improved social skills.

People with Autism are presented with difficulties with social interactions, in particular, establishing and maintaining relationships. There is a lack of responsiveness to non-verbal forms of communications, like facial expressions, physical gestures and eye contact. Often, they are unable to fully express needs due to being unable to interpret and understand others needs. These lack of social interactions effect their ability to share others interests and activities, which gives the appearance that they are socially distant. The cause of their inability to understand non-verbal forms of communication which causes them to become withdrawn socially; is due to a delay in speech.