Picture Exchange Communication System Quiz

1. The PECS program aims to teach the child several skills. Which of these skills is not part of the PECS program? A. Getting the adult’s attention B. Finding the right picture for what she wants C. Handing the picture to the adult D. Saying the word for what she wants

The correct answer is D: saying the word for what she wants. PECS may be a good foundation for learning words because PECS teaches the importance of basic communication. Each time a child uses a picture to ask for something, she also hears the word for the item she has requested. However, teaching children to speak with words is not part of the basic PECS program.

True or False: When the child hands you a picture to request what she wants, you should give her a large reward, like a whole big cookie, to increase her motivation

The correct answer is FALSE. Just like with other kinds of teaching, like teaching the child to point to make a request, it is better to use small pieces of a treat, or a short time to play with a toy. That way, the child still wants more and will be motivated to make additional requests. If you give her a whole big cookie when she requests a cookie, she’ll be full quickly and won’t want to ask for more.

3. What do you need to do before you start teaching PECS? Pick all the choices that are correct. Find out what treats and toys are most rewarding for your child. Get pictures of these treats and toys. Cover them with plastic so they can be handled easily without tearing. Make sure your child knows how to point.

The correct answers are A, B and C. These are the basic steps you need to prepare before you start teaching PECS. Pick the rewards you will start with, get or print pictures of them, and make them easy to handle repeatedly without tearing. You may or may not have worked on pointing to request; PECS and pointing to request can be taught in any order, or even at the same time. However, your child does not need to know how to point in order to learn PECS.

True or False: PECS should be used mainly to teach the child to request food or drink treats, like a small cracker, piece of candy, or sip of juice.

The correct answer is FALSE. PECS is very helpful in teaching the child to request a food or drink treat, and you might want to start with these rewards. But – the goal is for the child to be able to request a much wider variety of rewards. These rewards might include favorite toys, or activities such as going on a swing, a few minutes of TV, or having you blow bubbles. Eventually, you may even go on to teach your child to use PECS to request other things, like to go to the bathroom, or to ask you for help with a task. And you may also go on to teach your child to comment on the world around her using PECS; to share her emotions and experiences with you.

True or False: When using a specific reward (let’s say a chocolate chip cookie) in teaching PECS, it is best to let the child have these cookies freely available at all times, in order to increase her motivation.

The correct answer is FALSE. If the child can have this particular treat whenever she wants it by just reaching for it, she will not be very motivated to learn how to request it, using PECS or any other method.

True or False: When you first start teaching PECS, you should hold up the reward and say “Do you want this?” and wait for the child to make a response.

The correct answer is FALSE. The idea behind PECS is for the child to initiate communication. So you hold up the treat, just out of your child’s reach, and the physical prompter (that’s the second adult who’s helping you) will help the child hand you the picture of the reward as a way of requesting it. That way, it is the child who initiates the communication, even though she may need physical prompting to do it when she is first learning. If you always ask a question like, “Do you want this?” your child may get into the habit of waiting for you to offer her things before she makes requests.

True or False: Once your child has learned to hand you a specific picture to get a specific reward, you should have the communication partner and the prompter switch roles.

The correct answer is TRUE. You don’t want the child to only know how to hand YOU a picture as a way of making a request. You want her to be able to request things from anyone in her life. Also, you want her to learn to request a variety of different things, and to do this in different places too.

8.  Why is it important to have a helper when teaching PECS, if you can? A. To observe the process and give you advice B. So you can be in front of the child, holding the reward with one hand and holding out your other hand for the picture, while your helper prompts the child from behind. C. To put away things the child is finished with

The correct answer is B. While it’s nice to have help and advice from a relative or friend and to have help in cleaning up, that is not the main reason it’s important to have a helper for some of your PECS teaching time. The main reason is that having another person prompt the child from behind can help the child to learn more quickly that she is the one that must initiate the communication. It could confuse the child for YOU to prompt her to ask YOU for something she wants. And, of course, it can be difficult to hold the reward in one hand, hold out your other hand for the picture, and prompt the child as needed, all at the same time.

True or False: You should always require eye contact from your child before you give her a reward that she has requested using PECS.

The correct answer is FALSE. While you should definitely encourage eye contact and reinforce it whenever it happens, the main goal of PECS is to teach a specific means of communication: picture exchange. If you require eye contact every time the child hands you a picture, especially when she is first learning PECS, she may get confused and frustrated and it may slow down her learning of PECS. There will be plenty of time later on to add eye contact to the established picture exchange.

10. If you are just starting to teach your child to discriminate the picture of the item she wants from the picture of the item she doesn’t want, which of the following should you NOT do? A. As soon as she hands you the picture she has chosen, say the word for the item in that picture, and hand her the item. B. Make the two pictures very similar to encourage her to pay attention to details. C. Make the two pictures quite different, to make it easier for her to tell the difference between the two pictures

The correct answer is B. If you make the two pictures very similar from the beginning, discriminating between them and picking the right one may just be too difficult. Making the two pictures quite different, will make it much easier for her to tell the difference between them. You can make them more similar later, but to start with, you want her to experience success in telling the pictures apart. Then you can gradually make the choice harder, but always keep in mind that success is the best teacher. Giving her the item in the picture she chose (even if it’s a sock instead of candy, or the measuring scoop instead of the light-up toy) will help her to understand that she is requesting something specific with each picture, and that she will get what is shown in the picture she gave you.