The effectiveness of a behavioral skills training (BST) package to teach the implementation of the first three phases of the picture exchange communication system (PECS) was evaluated with 3 adults who had no history teaching any functional communication system. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training package, which consisted of a video, written and verbal instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Results showed significant improvements relative to baseline in a short amount of training time and that skills generalized to a learner with a severe developmental disability. Skills were maintained at 1 month follow-up for 1 participant.

Written by Mahnaz Afkhami, Ann Eisenberg, Haleh VaziriPublished in English in December 2001Copyright: Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP) 140 PagesSoon to be available in Arabic, French, Hausa, Persian and Russian