Anyone ever tried PECS with a 13 mo old?

[darjeelingdarling]

just curious....

ds has learnt to point at things he wants etc (trying to do makaton / baby signing) but he's not getting it/ finding pointing more effective.

I'm just thinking for a few things such as drink, pram (for naps - yes I'm a failure as a mother) and apple which he loves and now points to in books and at the fruit bowl, also doing so if he wants one.

I'm hesitant to go further than this but just to see if it'll help. mainly the nap thing as his sleepy cues have gone to pot plus he's all over the place with naps following two bad viruses and the mmr. Seems to be going off boob to sleep at the mo too! (dammit...!) starting to think current whingy moments are simply tiredness - we've had 6 weeks of illness, teething and then mmr which knocked him so there's been a lot of whinging and frustration from both of us!!

tia

Sounds like you've had a bit of a rough time with illness. Not sure what PECS is though...

sorry, picture exchange communication.

just photos of his sippy cup, his buggy and an apple, laminated and possibly on a velco strip.

pecs is really used for non verbal asd children.

I'm just curious to see if it would help a bit at the mo! (but wondered if a bad idea)

I guess it's no different to signing except signing is more versatile.

Personally. I would not use PECS. Everyone is different.

Though, I think your DD is still young and it's mainly used with kids who have communication difficulties i.e. autism, speech clays etc etc.

I think Makaton is a great skill for your DD to use.

I would not use PECS as a form of communication..though would use the picture cards to label things i.e. thats a cat, book etc.

I'd go with makaton too. The nursery dd went to used it all of the time and we had already taught her sone signs. Its great for helping to ease their frustrations.

If you think he is overtired, have you read the NCSS for toddlers and preschoolers?

thanks - he's over tired due to coughing all night / 'oh look mummy I can nearly walk' / it's just tooooooo exciting / starting to move to 1 nap / post mmr (which seems to have knocked him.)

oh and probably hectic xmas.

he's just not doing anything other than pointing at the mo! maybe just too young to do the signs?

He'll get the signs very quickly. So keep it up!

reading the amazon reviews though it might be worth a read thanks!

PECS is useful for children who don't naturally pick up the link between a request and a response. That is, that they don't realise they can 'ask' for something.

Your DS is doing what PECS is trying to achieve - your DS has linked the fact that he points, you get. It's perfectly normal at this stage.

Unless there are any SN you haven't mentioned, introducing PECS would be a hinderance to his development, in my view, because you would be teaching him that he needs a picture in his hand to get what he wants. That's fine if a child is unable to use a more independent method of communication.

Similarly, makaton signing is always used along side spoken words. Makaton is more 'natural' than PECS, because most people have hands, most people gesticulate, and many of the signs used are quite intuitive. Even if someone has never learned makaton, they will quickly pick up the sign, say, for milk.

As I say, unless there is a SN you haven't mentioned, then you need to accept that this is a normal, slightly frustrating stage of development. By all means sign (as long as you are reinforcing the spoken word at the same time).

He is tiny! I think the general rule of thumb is that you can be signing for over 6 months before the child signs back, but they learn the meaning of the signs far faster than the production of them.

DD1 goes to special school. This is her 4th year there, and she has always been verbal since 2.6 (although delayed and hard to understand). She knows masses of signs, and I have to say to her 'sorry, I don't know that one, then she teaches me.

She uses signs when she's tired, or embarrassed. She'll sign 'I want the toilet' if we're with people outside our immediate family.

ah thanks lougle you've pointed out the little bit that was making me think it could do the opposite but I couldn't work out why; the fact he is at a very early stage of communication but we are at a frustrating bit.

Also, yes, communication is a two way exchange - so I need to be picking up on his current 'language' too.

I'll keep with the makaton. I'd not been able to get on a baby signing course so didn't know what to expect time wise. I was just being curious!

But he's got the most crucial bit. He's understood that if he uses his finger to point to something, you know what he wants and he gets it.

Just keep going. The first sign I'd really want him to get is 'more'. It can avert many a tantrum. Imagine you're really enjoying something and you think 'I'll have some more...' but not being able to reach that thing, and you can't ask someone else.

I taught sorry very early, but that's personal preference. Thank you and please, too. But some people don't like their children to have to say please and thank you without understanding the emotive part of it first.