PECS - boardmaker? overboard? mrs. riley's?

[belle&sebastiansmom]

DS is 2 1/2 and is non-verbal asd. He signs some and we've started working on the picture system with him, which he is picking up surprisingly well.

One of his therapists recommended Boardmaker. Sticker shock at that price! Unfortunately his therapists and early intervention program do not have Boardmaker software that I can utilize at home for him. I was told that even the school district has the system, but for their use only. Do they think he won't benefit from continuing the program at home, on weekends, holidays?

I'd appreciate any feedback on any type of picture software or program. Or even how you utilize the PECS program with your own child.

How does a cheaper program like Mrs. Riley's compare to Boardmaker? What about Overboard? Ease of use? Quality of pictures?

I've already printed him many pictures of free clip art online, but that has taken so much time searching, sometimes resizing, it would be nice to have things neatly packaged and easy to use, without spending a fortune.

The therapists want to begin some sentence stringing with him, so I know it will be put to good use.

 

[Schmeck]

Can't they just make you a couple of copies of his icons for use at home? We laminate and velcro-dot our boardmaker icons all the time for use all over the place at school.

The school would have to pay for extra licensing to have the software installed outside of the school - that costs $$$$$. But it costs almost nothing to photocopy a sheet of icons.

 

[SueM in MN]

Can't they just make you a couple of copies of his icons for use at home? We laminate and velcro-dot our boardmaker icons all the time for use all over the place at school.

The school would have to pay for extra licensing to have the software installed outside of the school - that costs $$$$$. But it costs almost nothing to photocopy a sheet of icons.

I agree. That is what the school did for me when my daughter was little.

I am going to move this to the disABILITIES Community Board where it will be more in topic.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I work in a special needs preschool room and a few of our kids use PECS. This may not be a popular opinion but we are not big fans programs that make icons. Some of the pictures look nothing like the objects or actions they're supposed to represent. The teacher in the other classroom uses the icons but we prefer not to. We like to use pictures that look as much like the real-world objects as possible. We take a lot of digital pictures around the school and classroom and resize those to fit our boards. If we want the child to sit at circle time, we show him a picture of himself in his circle time chair. If we want him to sit at the snack table, we show him a picture of himself eating his snack. If we want him to go to the book area, we show him an actual picture of our book area. We also photograph or find pictures online of the food items the child brings most frequently for snack. We move the children from using the pictures to following verbal directions without them. If they begin using even single words to make requests, we try to eliminate the pictures completely.

I know that lots of people like icon programs and it's easier to print uniform pictures rather than resizing them. But we really believe in using photographs for our kids who use PECS. We've even had our parents take pictures at home to better prompt their children that it's time for a meal, bed, etc. and they say it works well for them. Just my 2 cents!

 

[Piper]

I use real photos in my classroom also. It takes a little while to take them. With digital pictures, it is no where near as expensive as it used to be!! I used to even take a polaroid when I caught a child doing something that I wanted to see on a regular basis--now I can just instantly download it!

I have used Boardmaker and the pictures are indeed vague for many actions--and sometimes use the same picture for several different actions (many times with just an arrow showing the difference.)..........confusing!

 

[Schmeck]

Yes, icons are not exact images of things, but neither are words. All of the students I have worked with have been able to represent themselves using boardmaker icons. Using direct images is helpful to start with, but how can that be translated into a new environment, new situation? Is someone supposed to be running around ahead of a student and taking pictures of everything he/she might encounter for his/her entire life?

I can see starting preschool students with PECS, but also relating those to icons. And yes, some of the icons are vague, but most of my students have no problem using the correct one when they want something.

 

[deerhart]

When my son was still using pictures (he loses his verbal skills when he gets emotional) the school used real pictures.

They also have a program that uses icons (e would type out stories that were a combination of words and icons). The icons were common clipart items.

 

[SueM in MN]

Since the OP wrote that her child was picking up on Boardmaker icons surprizingly well, I think for him icons sound like a good fit.

If he ends up needing to use a communication device, it might make sense to use icons that some of the high-tech communication devices use. That would not include Mrs. Riley's or Overboard.
Boardmaker is one of the systems available in several high tech communication devices - Dynavox products, as well as Prenke Romich (PRC) devices.
One of the 'new kids on the block' as far as symbol sets is Symbol Stix, which was originally developed for News-2-You newsletter used in Special Education classrooms for many years. Symbol Stix is also available in several communication devices, including those made by tobii, AMdI and a company called JABBLA, which I think is more in the UK and Europe. Proloquo2, an app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad also uses Symbol Stix.

But, since most of the symbols are fairly similar, it is not usually that difficult for someone who is used to one symbol set to switch to another.

 

[darthspud]

I used this website for PECS when I was working at an adult day center and we did not have boardmaker nor an SLP on staff if you just google pecs you can come up with some good stuff... you just need to look...
http://do2learn.com/picturecards/printcards/index.htm they are in black and white but have a great wide range of icons if you google boardmaker in images you might be able to find some of them that your child needs... the cheap way to laminate is packing tape and manila folders

Good Luck

 

[MarieS]

I don't know if Mayer Johnson still offers this, but I have a version of Boardmaker called Boardmaker at Home. It wasn't in the catalog and I had to call and ask about it. It was cheaper than the regular version. It has been a huge help for me to have this at home. I can print out whatever he needs without having to wait for the therapist. I have also purchased some add ons for it. We also use it for making worksheets, checklists, job charts, books, etc.

For photos I have Picture This software. I supplemented this with picture I found on google. While both of these programs were a big investment, I knew my boys would always be nonverbal and wanted to be sure they were able to communicate. We were fortunate to be able to apply for some funds through a private organization in our state that helps families with items insurance doesn't cover. Maybe you can find something like that.

My son has now moved past PECS and uses a dynavox. When we started with PECS we did use real photos. However, we began the transition to icons as soon as possible since we knew my son would need to move to a speech generating device. While you can import photos to the device, it is mainly icon based.

 

[ykmom]

When my daughter was that age we used do2learn.com I think I paid $49.95 for a 1 year subscription and was then able to print in colour and various formats. I found it very simple to use and liked being able to print them when I wanted instead of waiting to get them from the speech therapist.