Teaching Children with Autism to Initiate and Respond to Peer Mands Using Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

Doherty et al. (2018) worked with three preschoolers with autism who had little peer talk.

The team taught each child to hand a picture card to a classmate to ask for a toy.

They also taught the same kids to answer when a peer showed them a card.

Adults gave gentle prompts and stickers for every correct swap.

Sessions happened during normal play time at school.

All three children started asking peers for toys with pictures within nine lessons.

They also began to answer peer requests without help.

The skills moved to new toys, new rooms, and new kids with almost no drop.

Two children kept the gains six weeks later.

Van der Molen et al. (2010) already showed PECS works when adults are the partners.

Doherty’s group proves the same trick works kid-to-kid, not just kid-to-teacher.

Syriopoulou-Delli et al. (2012) used play-time initiation training with older students and saw wider social play.

Their data and Doherty’s line up: once a child can start an exchange, bigger social bursts follow.

Gotham et al. (2015) used spoken scripts while Doherty used pictures.

Both teams got fast jumps in peer talk, so the mode—voice or card—may matter less than giving any clear way to start.

If you run preschool social groups, pair PECS with peer practice.

Teach both the ask and the answer.

Use small toys and quick praise.

In one week you can see classmates swapping pictures instead of grabbing toys.

That first exchange often leads to longer back-and-forth play, even after you step back.