OT & PECS

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Hi all,

Quick background - me 3.3 yo non verbal son (severe apraxia, hypotonia & sensory

issues) is currently in an inclusion 1/2 day preschool program in our district.

When he started in mid December, the school was adamant that they wanted to use

sign with him, not communication boards as we had started towards the end of EI.

Thought was he would take the " easy " way out and use the communication boards

rather than attempt to verbalize (Grr!). We didn't agree, but went along with it

for reasons I won't go into now.

Fast forward 3 1/2 months... district is slowly learning about my son and

started to implement a PECS system. What has me a little floored is the OT is

implementing it, not the SLP. Has anyone heard of something similar???

I figure the OT either has more free time than the SLP, or has more experience

with PECS than the SLP. My gut is telling me the latter (actually, I'm

wondering if the SLP has ANY experience with PECS). The OT uses it with my son

during their sessions, and she said the PT is planning on using it too.

She also made a comment that she's considering using photos instead of the PECS

images - something along the lines that she thought my son could handle the

photos. I always thought the photos were easier for most kids to use/understand

than the PECS images?

Lastly - anyone have any reallly good resources (books/websites) to learn how to

use a PECS system? I have one friend who mentioned her son's SLP used it for him

in preschool, but they only got to level 2. Trying to figure out what that

means - she couldn't remember.

Thanks in advance!

-

P.S. She did show my hubby the PECS book yesterday and I have an email into her

with questions (like any plans to use in the classroom?!), but this bothered me

so much overnight I had to post!