Research related to the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with individuals having autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) was examined using a communication competence paradigm detailed by J. C. Light (1988, 1989, 2003). Communication components were operationalized based on skills identified in ASD research. A review was conducted to examine general PECS outcomes and outcomes related to communication competence including generalized, spontaneous, and joint attention abilities, and maintenance. Results indicated that there were few empirical studies related to the PECS. Of note, the reported studies indicated generally positive outcomes for individuals with ASDs, particularly related to manding and generalization. When the communication competence paradigm was applied, results indicated that, in its present form, the PECS needs to be used as a part of a multimodal communication system. Results suggest that training related to the PECS includes joint attention and question asking. Recommendations for the use of PECS and future research with individuals having ASDs are outlined.
Being a competent communicator is complex and goes beyond expressing simple needs and wants to include having the ability to ask and respond to wh-questions. For individuals with autism spectrum disorders who use pictures to communicate, initiating communications such as questions can be difficult and it has been shown that some picture systems do not include question asking in the curriculum, such as the Picture Exchange Communication System. This study attempted to address this lack of question asking in teaching communication with pictures. The current study investigated how augmentative and alternative communication users learn to communicate, with methods of how vocal individuals with autism spectrum disorders have been taught to ask wh-questions, to teach nonvocal individuals with autism spectrum disorders to ask the question "What's that?" using a picture communication. The results showed that all 3 participants learned to vocally ask "What's that?" without requiring the communication picture, and the training for all participants was completed within 1 to 2 days. Secondary findings included the successful generalization of this question to nontrained settings, communicative partners, and stimuli. This study extends the limited literature on teaching wh-questions to individuals with autism spectrum disorders and supports findings of vocal outcomes with individuals who use picture systems to communicate.
Discrimination of question-asking is a critical conversational skill with considerable practical importance. Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) must be taught this skill to become competent communicators and function in everyday communicative situations. In previous question-asking literature, researchers have focused on teaching wh-questions in isolation. This study is an extension of previous research and conducted to investigate the ability of three preschool children with ASD to learn and discriminate when to use the two wh-questions, "What's that?" and "Where is it?" Results are interpreted to conclude that all three children learned to ask and discriminate between the questions within 6 to 16 instructional sessions, and learned novel vocabulary after asking "What's that?" This study supports using a prompting procedure for teaching these two wh-questions, and the importance of identifying individualized establishing operations to increase attending behavior, as well as conducting detailed prerequisite skill assessments to maximize learning of whquestions.
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