Chapter V: Conclusion

Implications

There has not been much research conducted on the benefits of parent implementing PECS as a method of communication and how it relates to the decrease in stress levels caused by the miscommunication. This study will help professionals to further analyze this intervention and the correlation that it has to help parents. This implications in this study are important for the participants as it can help to with the prevention of stress levels. This study examined the usage of PECS in children diagnosed with autism as a method of communication to help decrease parental stress caused by the miscommunication. This study confirmed the hypothesis and in fact parents teaching children to use PECS as means of communication does help to reduce the parental stress levels. What this study means for the participants and the professionals is that when parents request services for their children diagnosed with autism and have a similar situation of high stress levels, a known intervention such as PECS will be available. Professionals will be able to offer and discuss the benefits of using PECS to parents as a method of communication.

Limitations

There are several of limitations to this study that cannot be avoided. The first one being that the sample size can be expanded to more participants. The bigger the sample size, the more true of a value and study of the phenomena can be evaluated. The second limitation is the exclusion criteria. Participants have to have communication deficits and be diagnosed with autism. This limitation can exclude participants who only have communication deficits. Parental stress factors can be another limitation, as not all stress will be perceived by not being able to communicate with their child who is non-verbal. Other factors may increase the overall stress levels. Lastly, this research does not focus on the long-term benefits and usage of PECS across different settings and participants. It was mainly focused on a six-month span. Longer intervention would be useful to further analyze the correlation between the usage of PECS and the decrease in stress levels in parents.

Suggestions for Future Research

This study discusses the effectiveness of Picture Exchange Communication System with children diagnosed with autism to help decrease parental stress experience by the miscommunication. Future research can be expanded on including both parents in the participation and implementation of PECS. In addition, the target population can be expanded from various institutions, programs, and facility of implementation. Another suggestion for future research would be for the researchers to have direct contact with the intervention and see if the usage of PECS can be generalized across peers. Generalizing the usage of PECS in different context would be beneficial to analyze the grasping of the concept and the usage of PECS.

Running head: NON-VERBAL CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM LEARNING TO USE PECS AS A METHOD OF COMMUNICATION

NON-VERBAL CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM LEARNING TO USE PECS AS A METHOD OF COMMUNICATION 5

Non-verbal children diagnosed with autism learning to use PECS as a method of communication

Rodriquez Mitchell

Capella University

Research question: What is the relationship between non-verbal children diagnosed with autism learning to use PECS as a method of communication and the reduction in parental stress levels?

Chapter 4: Expected Results

Anticipated themes that may emerge from the distillation of concepts from narratives or observations of human experiences include: parents experience emotional distress due to incapacity to communicate with their non-verbal kids, difficulty in learning institutions as children diagnosed with autism are not able to clearly communicate with teachers and the same children have little or no processing of the previous information’s. These are also the themes that did emerge from the literature review that has been reviewed for this study. Through observation and conducted literature review challenges related to autism spectrum disorder were found. By utilizing qualitative study that included observations as well as human experience, it allows for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder to share their experiences through research. For purposes of reliability, human experiences allow further explanations in understanding the relationship between non-verbal children diagnosed with autism learning to use PECS as a method of communication and the reduction in parental stress levels.

In previously reviewed literature the main benefits discovered of the PECS is that it utilizes a reinforcement protocols and approaches for promoting and supporting speech accurately. Teaching autism diagnosed kids to communicate for instance makes it more possible for them to utilize speech which provides them a practical way to communicate. According to previous research, children do not developmentally understand pictures until at a certain age normally three years. In other words images are simple to follow and comprehend. Mostly children suffering from autism spectrum disorder have difficulties communicating. However, PECS utilizes pictures to effectively communicate wants and needs. For instance if a child wants to request something, they would point to that particular thing. PECS can help children who are working to develop spoken language skills. This method of communication is based on the idea of teaching non-verbal autism diagnosed kids to exchange a picture with a teacher who immediately honors the request. Teachers tend to avoid verbal prompts in order to encourage spontaneity (Benson et al 2008). Further, PECS makes the act of communication real. In other words, there is so much more communication than just naming an object or a thing. Children with this disorder create barriers to comprehending the process of communication. This method can boost conceptualization. This is the best method to enable autism diagnosed kids to communicate their wants and needs. As the previous literature review shown, sign language and some individual speech is difficult to interpret. On the other hand pictures are easy to understand across the board. This method of communication can aid interaction between parents and autism kids which will eventually minimize stress. It’s also suitable in diverse environments in the sense that it can be understood everywhere. Parents and teachers can participate in the speech development of autism children. This is because people have witnessed kids beginning to speak after the application of PECS’s communication (Charlop‐Christy et al 2002).

The literature review has shown us that parents with autism disorder require a lot of training and close motivation so as to develop positive interests for their disabled children. Similarly, parents should also take their children to school so as to share with others, as a result, they will learn from other children. Parents can play a critical role in the speech development of autism kid. Parents also spend a lot of time with their children which mean they can use the knowledge to communicate with their kids hence improving their future speech.

References

Benson, P., Karlof, K. L., & Siperstein, G. N. (2008). Maternal involvement in the education of young children with autism spectrum disorders. Autism12(1), 47-63.

Charlop‐Christy, M. H., Carpenter, M., Le, L., LeBlanc, L. A., & Kellet, K. (2002). Using the picture exchange communication system (PECS) with children with autism: Assessment of PECS acquisition, speech, social‐communicative behavior, and problem behavior. Journal of applied behavior analysis35(3), 213-231.

Get help from top-rated tutors in any subject.

Efficiently complete your homework and academic assignments by getting help from the experts at homeworkarchive.com