After wanting to go for a couple years, I was finally able to attend a PECS conference this week so that I could be trained to use PECS with my kiddos! I had picked up some information from my SLPs over the past couple of years, but I am very much a concrete visual learner, and I need everything presented to me in an organized format!
If you have not gone and think this might be something you might use with your kids (or even if it isn't something you THINK you might use), I highly recommend going. I was lucky to attend with a coworker of mine, and the two of us were able to put our heads together and brainstorm for our kids right during the conference. By the time we got back, we were ready to immediately apply the strategies we learned!
I think the biggest point that our trainer made was her comparison to living in a foreign country. You might know some words, be able to gesture, forge your way through a sentence using some words from English, but it is a struggle. But the one universal language we have is pictures. The same applies for students learning to communicate. Even if your goal is verbal communication, why not give them a strategy that will not only help them in the meantime, but is also research-proven to get them talking faster?
Sounds good to me :)
To find a conference near you, just head over to their website for listings and to sign up.
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