Icon Exchange:
The Basics
Distance & Persistence
• Everyone of us has seen the little kid in the grocery
store tugging on their parent’s pant leg repeating, “I
want candy! I want candy! I want candy!”
• We’ve also seen the tattletale at the park who’ll run
across the entire playground just to tell mommy
that brother climbed up the slide…
• Call us crazy, but the ultimate goal of phases 2-2F
is to turn quiet kids into a combination of:
– A) The relentlessly persistent communicator from the
supermarket and
– B) The communicator from the park who is willing to
travel in order to talk
Persistence
• Persistence can be a necessary part of
communication
– Parents can’t devote their full attention to one child
at all times
• Example: Dinner burning on the stove, phone ringing,
and two siblings running wildly around the kitchen.
• Little Sammie, who has autism, holds up his ‘bathroom’
icon to his busy mother juggling the kids and dinner
– Think Mommy’s gonna notice???
• Now if he is tugging at her pant leg & jabbing her with
the icon, don’t you think she’s more apt to pay
attention?
– Persistence= getting someone’s attention
Distance
• What if Sammie is struck by the urge to
pee and his parents are not around?
– Like most children with autism, Sammie has
to be taught to travel short distances in
order to communicate
– In addition to being persistent, phases 2-2F
also aim to teach this skill
Distance Training
• Runners build stamina
for marathons, we
build stamina for
communication!
– Phases 2-2B gradually
increase distance
between child & tutor
– Phases 2C-2E increase
distance from child to
communication book
– Phase 2F increases
distance from child to
book to tutor
Book
Child
Tutor
Distance Training Cont.
• Whenever possible, 2 tutors should be used for
phases 2-2F
• Students need to be able to discriminate “who’s
got the goods”
– If tutor 1 has the reinforcer, we want child to
approach that tutor (not tutor 2 who does not have
reinforcer)
Even More Distance Training
• What if my child approaches the “wrong” tutor!?
(tutor without reinforcer)
– DO
NOTGESTURALLY PROMPT child
• I.E.- Do NOT POINT to the “correct” tutor
• PHYSICALLY GUIDE child to “correct” tutor (tutor
with reinforcer)
Pop Quiz
1.
2.
3.
When we talk about “persistence” in communication, we mean:
a. Getting someone’s attention in order to communicate with
them
b. Traveling short distances in order to communicate with
someone
c. Both a & b are correct
In the “distance” training phases of PECS, we are trying to:
a. Prepare the child to run a marathon race
b. Teach the child to travel short distances in order to
communicate with someone
c. None of the above
If child approaches the “wrong” tutor during distance training,
that tutor should:
a. Physically guide the child to the “right” tutor
b. Point to the “right” tutor
c. Take the icon from the child & complete the trial
Phases 3-3A:
Discrimination
• Goal of Phases 3-3A:
– Child discriminates between icons of preferred &
non-preferred items
• Number of icons used depends on phase
• The childs choosing of a non-preferred icon
will result in a mildly aversive stimulus (nonpreferred item)
– If child chooses wrong (non-preferred) icon, use 4
step error correction
– Make sure you have a non-preferred item before
you start the trial
• i.e. do an assessment for a preferred and a
non preferred
Non-Preferred Items
• Assessing whether an item is nonpreferred can be difficult
– How to tell if item is non-preferred:
• Child pushes item away or drops item
• Child does not engage/play with item for at least 15
seconds
• Child does not attend to item at all
– Be sure you have child’s attention when you present
item
Neutral Item
• If child uses item functionally,
item is neutral
– Example: Give child tissue & they wipe their
nose
» Tissue is neutral because child used it
appropriately
» Do NOT use a neutral item as a reinforcer!
Phases 3B-3C:
Discrimination
• Goal of Phases 3B - 3C:
– For the child to discriminate between multiple
preferred items
• How do we do this?
• CORRESPONDENCE CHECKS!
– Example: Child gives tutor ‘cookie’ icon
– We want to make sure that child actually wants a cookie
so we hold out the cookie and another preferred item
» This is the CORRESPONDENCE CHECK
» Do NOT label item during correspondence check!!!
– If child takes the cookie, they really wanted the cookie
– If they take the other preferred item (instead of the
cookie), then they aren’t discriminating between preferred
icons
» Use 4 step error correction
Pop Quiz
4. Name 2 things a child could do during a preference assessment
that would indicate an item is non-preferred?
5. True or False: If you give your child a sock during a preference
assessment and they put it on their foot, then sock is a nonpreferred item?
6. True or False: If child uses an item functionally during a
preference assessment (wipes nose with tissue), it is okay to
use this item as a reinforcer?
7. True or False: You should label the item during the
correspondence check?
4 Step Error Correction
• Phases 3 - 3C use 4 Step Error
Correction
– Used when child makes incorrect response
• Used in place of the prompt hierarchy
• 4 Step Error Correction consists of up
to 3 complete cycles of:
1. Model
2. Practice
3. Distract
4. Repeat
STEP 1
•
MODEL
For phases 3-3C, if your child responds:
 CORRECTLY
o Lucky you, reinforce just as you normally would & move
on to the next trial!
OR
 INCORRECTLY
o First, POINT to the correct correct with a gestural
prompt
 REMEMBER: This trial is the 1st of 10 INITIAL trials
o Your child’s response (correct/incorrect) in the initial
trial determines whether you:

Reinforce their behavior & move on to the next initial trial
(correct response) or go through the 4 step error correction
(incorrect response)
o 4 step error correction is NOT part of the initial trial
o If you have to use 4 step error correction, it means your
child got the initial trial wrong
Pop Quiz
8. True or False: The child’s response in the ‘initial’ trial
determines whether you reinforce their behavior & move on
to the next trial, or go through 4 step error correction?
9. True or False: If you have to use 4 step error correction, it
means your child got the initial trial wrong?
STEP 2
•
PRACTICE
In step 1, you modeled the correct response for the child
by pointing to the icon they ‘should’ have chosen. Now,
allow the child an opportunity to PRACTICE giving you
the correct icon
•
If the child performs the correct response during ‘practice’,
proceed to step 3 of error correction
–
•
DO NOT PROVIDE CHILD WITH REINFORCER AT THIS TIME,
EVEN THOUGH THEY RESPONDED CORRECTLY
» They already got the trial wrong… this is just PRACTICE
If the child responds incorrectly during ‘practice’, go through
prompt hierarchy
–
You already gesturally prompted the correct response during
‘model’ in step 1, so now use a partial physical prompt
» DO NOT PROVIDE CHILD WITH REINFORCER AT THIS TIME,
EVEN IF THEY RESPOND CORRECTLY
» If the child still doesn’t respond correctly, full physically
prompt the correct response
STEP 3
DISTRACT
• In steps 1 & 2, you modeled the correct
response for your child & then allowed
them an opportunity to practice the
correct response
• Now you need to briefly distract the
child before moving on to step 4
– Flip over the communication book so it is
face down, and do an ELO
STEP 4
•
REPEAT
Step 4 provides student with an opportunity to respond
independently (without prompts) & receive a reinforcer
–
–
If child responds correctly, give reinforcer!
If child responds incorrectly, go through 4 step error
correction again

4 step error correction cycle can be repeated up to a
total of 3 times if necessary
•
If you complete 2 full cycles of the 4 step error correction
and the child still has not responded correctly, remove the
incorrect icon and do the 4 step once more so the child
cannot respond incorrectly, and we do not punish their
responding
Step 4 Cont.
•
Note: If you do 3 consecutive initial trials & have
to go through the maximum 3 full cycles of 4 step
error correction each time, STOP THE
PROCEDURE & GET IT CODED!
–
This means in 3 trials, you would’ve gone through a
total of 9 cycles of 4 step error correction (3 full
cycles for each of 3 initial trials)
Taking data on the 4 Step
Error Correction
• Only take data on initial 10 trials of procedure
– Should only be 10 “+/-” marks on data sheet at end of
procedure
– Do not take data on any part of 4 step error correction!
• 4 step error correction is not part of INITIAL trial; it is a
corrective procedure
– If child responds incorrectly on initial trial, mark it as
wrong
• Begin 4 step error correction
– Child may respond correctly sometime during 4 step error
correction, but initial trial was still wrong (you’ve already
taken data for this trial!)
» DO NOT TAKE DATA ON ANY PART OF 4 STEP ERROR
CORRECTION!
Pop Quiz
10. How many times can you complete the full cycle of 4
step error correction in 1 trial (if necessary)?
11. How many “+/-” marks should you have when you finish
running PECS?
4 Step Error Correction in the Flesh
Phases 4 – 4G
• Goal of Phases 4 - 4G:
– Child uses “sentence” to request items
• Child will use “I want” icon & sentence strip for
first time in phase 4
– We use backwards chaining to teach using a sentence
• Tutor will ask child “What do you
want?” and prompt child to put chosen
icon on the sentence strip
• Note: “I Want” icon is already on strip
– Once the icon is on the strip prompt the
child to hand over the whole sentence strip
• Length of delay is phase specific for asking “what
do you want”
Phases 5 – 5B
• DO NOT START PHASE 5 WITHOUT
CARMEN’S APPROVAL!
– Not all children proceed to these phases
• These phases teach the child ‘tacting’
(labeling items)
– All phases before taught ‘manding’
(requesting items)
• Child will use “I see” icon instead of “I
want”
• Hold up non-preferred/neutral items for
child to identify
Phase 6 – 6A
• This phase switches back and forth
between asking “what do you see”,
and “what do you want”
– Start generalizing both around the
classroom