| Paula, PECS & Me (A Mother’s Viewpoint) |
| The Picture Exchange Communication System, or more commonly referred to as PECS, has been and continues to be a tremendous help for my family in communicating with Paula, our 5-year-old daughter. Paula was diagnosed as severely autistic at about 2 ˝ years of age. At that time, she had poor eye contact with unfamiliar people, barely uttered what sounded like “dada”, could not point to pictures of familiar objects or her own body parts, and was easily frustrated, breaking into tantrums frequently. She would hold a toy car and spin its wheels but would not make it run. We reacted to this diagnosis with simple acceptance, but not without a firm resolve that we had to face this challenge directly so that our daughter could have a quality of life where her full potentials would be reached. After completing a year in an early intervention program (she was started on this at about 22 months of age), Paula was transferred to another school where she was first formally exposed to PECS. She was now 3 years old and, like any other child receiving PECS as a communication tool, was begun at Stage 1, wherein a 2”x2” picture of an object, i.e. a cookie or an apple, was used in exchange for the actual food item that Paula wanted at the time. I should note that at this point, my daughter’s verbal ability consisted of a mere 5-6 “words” (or more accurately, what sounded like actual words). She picked up on this system remarkably well, to the amazement of her teacher and therapists alike. I remember being so excited after the first month when I first heard her say “KI-KU” while pointing to the picture or symbol of a cookie. By the 3rd month, the same cookie symbol now sounded like “KA-KEES” (for “cookies”). She was also pointing to at least 5 body parts, was counting to 5, said “MI-MI” (give me) “MI-MISH” (finished), and called her daddy “DEDI”. I also noted that her ability to understand spoken language had improved in the sense that simple commands such as “Come here” or “Sit down” were readily followed. Because of her progress during this 3rd month, she was moved up to another stage where she would now make simple sentences on a PECS sentence strip in order to express what she wanted. Because autistic children have such profound visual abilities, Paula easily discriminated between symbols, such as Coke or Pepsi, when she wanted these items specifically. In fact, she became quite resourceful, using the “cereal” symbol when she wanted popcorn, only because that was the closest picture to popcorn that she could find in her book. On the 5th month, Paula progressed to Stage 6 wherein the picture symbols were reduced to a smaller 1”x1” size and the sentences were slightly longer and more descriptive. Her teachers noted that her eye contact was much improved, while I noticed that her tantrums had decreased dramatically because now she was less frustrated and could express herself better. I should also add that throughout this entire process, PECS was not only being used at school but was carried over at home, at social gatherings, even on out-of-town trips as I did not want Paula to miss out on any opportunity to communicate effectively. When Paula started toilet training at 3 ˝ years old, PECS was again part of the picture (no pun intended). She had a “bathroom” symbol for whenever she had to go, however I have to admit she was more compliant about this in school than at home. Autistic children thrive on routines, and that she received more strictly in school. Paula then started her 2nd year in the same school (she was 4 years old), and at this point the cookie symbol was now a crisp and clear “COOKIE”, along with “MOMMY”, “DADDY”, “PEE-PEE”, “GOODBYE/HI”, and many more. She recognized and sounded out a few letters of the alphabet, was singing the “Old McDonald’s” nursery song (especially “E-I-E-I-O”) and would actually speak short words spontaneously without the aid of PECS. By the 15th month from starting PECS, she would add adjectives to the object, such as “ORANGE PUNKIN” (pumpkin). During the Easter break, Paula experienced her first plane ride and as the plane was starting to take off she blurted out “GO DOWN!” Towards the end of her 2nd year, Paula was expressing her feelings (sad, happy, mad, surprised, etc.) via PECS which to any parent is a wonderful thing to see. Paula then graduated out of preschool and is presently in kindergarten (she’s 5 now) in a new school, the 3rd one of her young life. She continues to use PECS as an invaluable tool of communication, but is now less dependent on it as her verbal skills have become relatively more sophisticated. One incident that touched me took place at home, around the 2nd month of the new school year. She was watching a video of “The Land Before Time” when she ran to me in the dining room and said “Paula sad” (while showing me the picture symbol for “sad”). Immediately I stood up to check on what part of the movie she was watching and I was amazed to find that it was the scene of Littlefoot’s (a dinosaur) mother about to die. So I looked at Paula and asked, “How do you feel?” to which she answered “I feel sad” whereupon she ran to a nearby mirror to look at her sad, crying face which shed real tears! Presently, Paula recognizes numbers and all the letters of the alphabet, is reading and spelling several words, spontaneously speaks in 3-5 word sentences and continues to surprise me every day with her abilities, both verbal and non-verbal. She is fortunate to be receiving such a wonderful educational experience and as parents we are proud of what she has become from what she used to be just 3 years ago. By: Shoda Gonzalez-Pascual, MD (Paula’s mom) Jan. 17, 2001 Published with the permission from the author |