Re: PECS vs sign language for young kids

[Guest guest]

Does Noah have a speech therapist yet? That is who you should talk

about which system to use. I have an 18 month old boy with DS. From

conversations with Nicky's ST, I don't think it is an either or

situation, but rather all forms of communication complement each other.

Nicky now has 4 signs and a couple of words, we started ST shortly

after he turned one and he started getting idea of signs=words about 2

months ago. I asked his ST about PECS and it is for older, mobil

children. She also said that in her experience parents found it

somewhat complicated to implement and rarely carried through. We're

working on our own sort of system where I've taken pictures of Nicky

doing different activities, laminated them, and then put them in front

of him for him to choose from. I've also laminated the front of

cheerios and waffles boxes. Nicky seems to be most motivated by food

;-].

Anne

On Apr 9, 2004, at 11:00 PM, r_mcgaff wrote:

> I have a one year old, Noah, with DS. He is doing great, and babbles

> a ton. I expect him to be very verbal, but I am looking for ways to

> enhance his language abilities, especially while he is young. His

> geneticist recommended that I look into using PECS. I went to a

> conference on it and I think it is a great idea, but it seems that it

> is geared to slightly older children. I have heard of many DS kids

> using sign language successfuly, but I am wondering if PECS would be

> more helpful in learning sentence structure. Is there anyone out

> there who has used PECS?

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Does Noah have a speech therapist yet? That is who you should talk

about which system to use. I have an 18 month old boy with DS. From

conversations with Nicky's ST, I don't think it is an either or

situation, but rather all forms of communication complement each other.

Nicky now has 4 signs and a couple of words, we started ST shortly

after he turned one and he started getting idea of signs=words about 2

months ago. I asked his ST about PECS and it is for older, mobil

children. She also said that in her experience parents found it

somewhat complicated to implement and rarely carried through. We're

working on our own sort of system where I've taken pictures of Nicky

doing different activities, laminated them, and then put them in front

of him for him to choose from. I've also laminated the front of

cheerios and waffles boxes. Nicky seems to be most motivated by food

;-].

Anne

On Apr 9, 2004, at 11:00 PM, r_mcgaff wrote:

> I have a one year old, Noah, with DS. He is doing great, and babbles

> a ton. I expect him to be very verbal, but I am looking for ways to

> enhance his language abilities, especially while he is young. His

> geneticist recommended that I look into using PECS. I went to a

> conference on it and I think it is a great idea, but it seems that it

> is geared to slightly older children. I have heard of many DS kids

> using sign language successfuly, but I am wondering if PECS would be

> more helpful in learning sentence structure. Is there anyone out

> there who has used PECS?

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Becky,

Now is the time to teach signs. The basics are eating, more, all done,

drink and potty. I'd sign potty at each diaper change. had poor

fine motor skills and needed alot of hand over hand to get started. He

started to use PECS in preschool. He still uses picture symbols as a way of

increasing verbal skills and communicating. Someone mentioned a laminator -

this will be a good investment (I think Staples has good ones for around

$79). You can start by using your own PECS symbols - pictures of family

members, teachers, therapists, doctors, his room, etc.

Do you know about Loyola University in Columbia? Libby Kumin chairs the

communication department and she has a few books out on DS and speech. Many

people take their kids there for an evaluation.

PECS vs sign language for young kids

> I have a one year old, Noah, with DS. He is doing great, and babbles

> a ton. I expect him to be very verbal, but I am looking for ways to

> enhance his language abilities, especially while he is young. His

> geneticist recommended that I look into using PECS. I went to a

> conference on it and I think it is a great idea, but it seems that it

> is geared to slightly older children. I have heard of many DS kids

> using sign language successfuly, but I am wondering if PECS would be

> more helpful in learning sentence structure. Is there anyone out

> there who has used PECS?

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Click reply to all for messages to go to the list. Just hit reply for

messages to go to the sender of the message.

>

[Guest guest]

Noah has PT, speech, OT, and education. I have been doing basic

signs with Noah, and that is probably the method I will use for at

least the near future. The problem with signing is that is only

works for communicating with people who know the signs. PECS seems

to offer the ability to communicate with a wider variety of people,

but mobility is definitly a part of the program. At the conference I

went to, the spokesperson for PECS said that they do 2 day sessions

teaching exactly how to implement PECS. They also use two adults to

each child in the first two phases. I have taken some digital photos

of Noah's toys, and am working with him on identifying objects, but I

have not really started implementing the first phase of PECS. Has

anyone successfully used PECS and had it lead to better verbal

communication? Do you all find that sign language leads to better

verbal communication?

>

> > I have a one year old, Noah, with DS. He is doing great, and

babbles

> > a ton. I expect him to be very verbal, but I am looking for ways

to

> > enhance his language abilities, especially while he is young. His

> > geneticist recommended that I look into using PECS. I went to a

> > conference on it and I think it is a great idea, but it seems

that it

> > is geared to slightly older children. I have heard of many DS

kids

> > using sign language successfuly, but I am wondering if PECS would

be

> > more helpful in learning sentence structure. Is there anyone out

> > there who has used PECS?

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >