Koudys Julie, Elliott Melissa, Floyd Hannah, McNeely Taylor, Rinaldo Ethan, Perry Adrienne
Department of Applied Disability Studies, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3 A1, Canada.
, Bethesda, Thorold, ON, Canada.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 May 25. doi: 10.1007/s10803-025-06885-x.
A large body of evidence has established the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) as an evidence-based practice to support communication development for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although PECS involves a manualized teaching protocol, there is not a corresponding systematic approach to caregiver PECS training. Caregivers play an integral role in children's communication skill development, therefore strategies to engage and train caregivers to support their child's PECS use are critical. The purpose of the present study was to explore caregiver PECS teaching integrity and child PECS implementation accuracy following participation in a manualized caregiver PECS training program (i.e., the PECSperts Caregiver Training Package). This study was conducted as part of a multi-site community research project and used a quasi-experimental design with non-random group assignment. A total of 18 caregiver-child dyads participated (treatment group, n = 11; waitlist comparison group, n = 7). Results indicate that caregiver PECS teaching integrity and child PECS implementation accuracy increased significantly for members of the treatment group, with a large effect size. Caregiver participants reported high levels of satisfaction with the training. Results were generally maintained at one- and three-month follow ups. Results suggest that the PECSperts Caregiver Training Package is an ecologically valid, time- and cost-efficient approach to caregiver training that supports caregiver PECS treatment integrity and child PECS implementation accuracy. Although further research is required, the findings provide emerging support for PECSperts as a promising approach to community-based, caregiver and child PECS training.
大量证据已将图片交换沟通系统（PECS）确立为一种循证实践，以支持被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的沟通发展。尽管PECS涉及一种标准化的教学方案，但对于照顾者的PECS培训却没有相应的系统方法。照顾者在儿童沟通技能发展中起着不可或缺的作用，因此，吸引和培训照顾者以支持其孩子使用PECS的策略至关重要。本研究的目的是探讨在参与一个标准化的照顾者PECS培训项目（即PECSperts照顾者培训包）后，照顾者的PECS教学完整性和儿童的PECS实施准确性。本研究作为一个多地点社区研究项目的一部分进行，采用了非随机分组的准实验设计。共有18对照顾者-儿童二元组参与（治疗组，n = 11；等待列表对照组，n = 7）。结果表明，治疗组成员的照顾者PECS教学完整性和儿童PECS实施准确性显著提高，效应量较大。照顾者参与者对培训的满意度很高。结果在1个月和3个月的随访中总体保持。结果表明，PECSperts照顾者培训包是一种生态有效的、省时且经济高效的照顾者培训方法，可支持照顾者的PECS治疗完整性和儿童的PECS实施准确性。尽管需要进一步研究，但这些发现为PECSperts作为一种有前途的基于社区的照顾者和儿童PECS培训方法提供了新的支持。
