Carr, D

							Carr, D. & Felce, J. (2006). Increase in production of spoken words in some
children with autism after PECS teaching to Phase III. Journal of Autism and
Developmental Disabilities, 37. 780-787.

This study investigated the impact of PECS training on the spoken word production of
children with autism. Data was collected from a subset of participants involved in an
experimentally controlled study investigating the effects of PECS training on the
communicative interactions between children with autism and their teachers.

Twenty-four children, between 3-7 years of age, received a total of 15 hours of PECS
teaching over a five-week period. Children were trained in the early phases of PECS
including Phase I (the physical exchange), Phase II (distance and persistence) and
Phase III (discrimination between pictures). The experimental group, which did not
receive training, consisted of 17 children drawn from a similar education program,
outside the catchment area. A between groups design was used to measure the effects
of treatment vs. nontreatment in comparable groups of children. A within-subjects
design was used to control for the effects of maturation. Data was collected at T0 (6
weeks prior to commencing training), T1 (the week preceding training), and T2 (one
week after the completion of training). Data was collected using an observation tool
which tracked a) frequency and type of spontaneous child-adult communications with
subsequent adult response, b) frequency and type of adult-child communications with
subsequent child response. This tool was used at T0, T1, and T2. At T1 the Vineland
Adaptive Behavior Scale and the Preschool Language Scale was also administered. The
same data was collected, on the same time schedule, for children in the control group
(i.e., similar education program and group of children, just outside of catchment area).

Data revealed that five children in the PECS Group increased their total word production
substantially between T1 and T2. However, only one child in the Control Group showed
an increase, from a total of 17 words at T1 to a total of 19 words at T2. Furthermore, all
other children in the Control Group experienced a decrease in total word production (for
three children the decrease was to zero). No children in the PECS group demonstrated
a decrease in spoken words after receiving PECS teaching. In summary, only children
in the PECS group produced appreciable post-treatment gains in speech production.
These findings are consistent with findings from previous studies, in which some children
develop spoken language after receiving training in PECS. However, the analysis of
spoken word production was incidental to the initial goals of the study and should be
interpreted with caution.