PECS Level 1 Workshop

PECS Level 1 Workshop is an intensive two-day training designed to teach participants the theory behind the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and the protocols for how to appropriately implement the six phases of PECS. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is used to rapidly teach communication skills to those with limited functional speech. PECS promotes communication within a social context, without lengthy prerequisite training. Training in PECS begins by teaching a spontaneous request and goes on to teach additional communicative functions such as responding to questions and commenting. An added attraction for preschool children with autism and related disabilities is the high proportion of children who acquire independent speech. Participants will learn how to implement the six phases of PECS, plus attributes, through presenter demonstrations, video examples and role-play opportunities. Participants will leave the workshop with an understanding of how to implement PECS with individuals with autism, related developmental disabilities, and/or limited communication skills. This workshop is the basic accredited training in PECS and recommended for parents as well as professionals. Benefits of PECS training include: increasing skills and independence with a functional communication system; reducing inappropriate behaviours by reinforcing requests and positive communication; teaching students and children to initiate communication and develop social communication skills; seeing how it works with live demonstrations, video examples and opportunity for practice; helping parents become a leader in their children’s education; helping professionals gain valuable skills and learn how to implement PECS effectively in their environment; learning the ‘whys’ behind the practice to enable problem-solving; and gaining inspiration and learning practical tips and having questions answered from specialist consultants. Participants will learn the following: everything they need to know to begin successfully implementing PECS; the theoretical background, including how to develop effective educational environments; a review of visual strategies useful for communication; the six phases of PECS, where to start and when to move on; strategies for motivating their child/student to communicate; how to move from a single picture exchange to sentences; how to teach picture discrimination with two or more pictures; the criteria for transitioning from PECS to other communication modalities; the key Pyramid components to designing effective educational environments; strategies to create an abundance of opportunities for communication; and the relationship between PECS and traditional communication training approaches.