A Randomized Comparison of the Effect of Two Prelinguistic Communication Interventions on the Acquisition of Spoken Communication in Preschoolers with ASD

Layperson Summary:

This article describes a study showing that the picture-exchange communication system (PECS) can help some children with autism develop speech, and may be more effective than Responsive Education and Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching (RPMT).

The study focuses on 36 children with autism (1.5-5 years old). Half of these children received PECS training for 6 months, and half received RPMT. Free-play sessions during this 6-month period were videotaped, and scorers counted the number of spoken words. Scorers also wrote down which words were spoken in each session. Children who received PECS training spoke significantly more often and used significantly more words than those who received RPMT. However, the authors note that six months after the end of the training period, both groups of children had reached similar (improved) levels of speech development. This pattern suggests that PECS may help children with autism develop speech more quickly than RPMT does.

Scientific Abstract