Picture Exchange Communication Essay

The number of children who are diagnosed with Autism is increasing. While many specialists may argue the cause for such an increase, the concern for the affect of the communication-based disability is often overlooked. Communication is an important function. For individuals with Autism, the need to communicate may be hindered but not lessened in importance. Therefore, effective means of communication for children with Autism is paramount for increasing their independence and quality of life. Using picture exchange as a form of communication has been researched as a form of communication for individuals with Autism, but it is important to understand the impact such communication systems may have on such a growing population. How can picture

Subsequently, the use of picture exchange communication increased the language comprehension of individuals with autism, in multiple settings, with a variety of communicative partners (Ganz, Parker & Benson, 2009; Pries, 2006; Charlop-Christy, Loc Le, & Kellet, 2002). The data collected suggested that children with Autism between the ages of 3 and 16, having limited previous exposure to picture exchange communication, increased their use of similar picture exchange systems to increase communication, (Ganz, Parker & Benson, 2009; Pries, 2006; Charlop-Christy, Le & Kellet, 2002; Ganz & Simpson, 2004; Paden, Kodak, Fisher, Gawley-Bullington & Bouxsein, 2012) but only tended to do so with adults and not their same age and ability level peers (Ganz & Simpson, 2004). This lack of peer exchange could possibly be related to the fact that interactions occurring between individuals with Autism are centered on adults prompting children and students to use the communication aide. When the adults are no longer present, the students are less likely to generalize the use of the picture communication system to communicative partners of the same