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“One of the biggest steps for us with PECS was seeing my son who used to just say one word requests for things he wanted, count the words on his fingers as he’d say a proper sentence instead. I remember the day I started [PECS]. We went through the first couple of phases quickly, he picked it up instantly! Suddenly I was able to tell him where we were going and how. He could start telling me what he wanted to do and where. We moved through the phases fast and reached phase 6 in no time.

Now he’s mastered all the phases and does advanced commenting. He no longer needs the binder for simple requests but can express those verbally. He will go to the binder for more difficult and longer things he wants to tell us; if someone fails to understand him after a few tries or if he wants to comment on something that is new to him he still needs the images as support to construct the sentence.”

– Mimmi Konishi, Parent of a PECS user

“This picture of Steven is special, because it was one of the first genuine happy photos I had captured after he started being able to communicate with PECS. Can you imagine going 4-5 years without being able to communicate without screaming or self-abusive behaviors? Well, my baby did. And when we found The Picture Exchange Communication System Steven began to be able to ask for wanted items and activities. He began to be able to feel heard. It’s so easy to be passionate about my job… because each child I see could be MY son. I say lots of thanks to Steven every week for teaching me how to help the families I love. So, this smile, this photo, makes me want other parents to get this moment, too. At 25 years old, I can say he’s still communicating more and more effectively every single day!”

– Amy Jamison-Casas, MS, CCC-SLP, Parent

In October 2016 I attended a PECS level 1 Training which was the start of a wonderful journey for me and my son, Swaran. On that workshop there was a lot of information to take on board but one thing that I recall being mentioned was the home consultancy service; a piece of information which I stored away in my mind but which I would recall later on and which would prove invaluable. I was confident enough to take my son through the PECS protocol but when he successfully mastered Phase IV, I felt that I needed a helping hand on how to get him to the next stage. I remembered the home consultancy service mentioned in the PECS Level 1 Training and knew that it would be great if I could get that 1-2-1 expertise in the home environment to help take my son’s communication to the next level.

In that first home consultancy service (which was for 2 hours), the Pyramid Consultant really got my son to work hard (and me!) as he managed to successfully reach Phase VI. I remember thinking how brilliant it was to have this expert in my home, helping me notice patterns I had not seen before, provide me with lots of ideas and inspiration, spot opportunities to maximize exchanges and to develop Swaran’s communication skills as well as stamp out bad habits! I went on to use this home consultancy service several times afterwards because it was so brilliant and took my son to such an advanced level in his PECS usage. By way of example, as a direct result of the input received from the home consultancy service, I was able to work on developing his communication skills to such a level that he was producing 9/10 symbol sentences which were too long for the sentence strip and his PECS book became huge (circa 450 symbols) before I gave in and transitioned him to a SGD (again with the assistance of Pyramid). He became so advanced in his communication thanks to the additional personal support we received via the home consultancy offering, and is now flourishing in his communication.

I would highly recommend this service for any parent who has attended the PECS Level 1 Training, and has got to a point where they either need a helping hand, inspiration and/or a tailored one-to-one service. It was simply amazing to be supported on my son’s PECS journey in this way, and this personal home consultancy service was key in his communication development.  It truly is a fantastic service.

– Mandy Aulak, Parent of a PECS Learner, United Kingdom

Swaran is now verbal. You can watch a short video of Swaran’s success using PECS here.

PECS has changed my son and my family’s life. We are in the beginning stages of using a device and now we can hear a little voice coming from his bedroom last night which is something we never thought we would have. We learned to place his device in his room and attached it to a Bluetooth speaker in our room. Just like any verbal child he can now tell us what he wants –we no long hear tears at bedtime, just requests. Our future communication with PECS on a device looks amazing! I have a very special teacher to thank for all her hard work as PECS is not easy to implement. We are so glad of all the courses and training she’s gone through to give our boy a better future. We can highly recommend PECS as a communication system that works well.

– Helen Heslop, Parent, UK

Do you have a success story, training testimonial, or consultation experience you would like to share? We would love to hear from you! Please email us at pyramiduk@pecs.com.