This particular blog stems from a conversation I saw between two tweeting parents. One parent was very excited that her child was going to begin PECS in the coming weeks and was hoping to see a result in functional communication - whether verbal or not. Within minutes, her tweet wall was attacked by other parents with such things as "PECS doesn't work" ... "don't get your hopes up, it will probably lead to nothing" ... and "my child has been doing PECS for years and we've gotten nothing out of it". Wow, way to be supportive of a parent embarking hopefully on a new method for their child. Now this isn't a blog promoting PECS (although, I should say I do work with children who use PECS to communicate quite well nonverbally and a few who began with PECS and later developed some type of verbal language). But just because a method doesn't work for someone else, doesn't mean it won't work for you!! On the same token, just because a method does work for someone else, that doesn't mean you'll see the same results in your child. But shouldn't other parents and professionals still be motivating you to try?!
I've mentioned before that my favorite saying regarding autism is "when don't really know what autism is, but we do know how it presents itself". We also know that it presents it self differently in all of our kids. And autism aside, our kids are completely different from each other. Some kids are verbal learners while others are auditory learners. Some kids need more immediate reinforcers while other kids prefer big reinforcers at the end of a chunk of time. Some kids thrive off of PECS and some kids don't seemingly benefit.
That being said, there are certainly some therapies I'm on the fence about and some therapy methods I question - which I hope all of you question therapies before you ok them for your children - but there are still TONS of therapies being offered to your kids. I'm a firm believer in a behavioral base with other therapies mixed in depending on your child's needs, learning styles, etc. Just because a therapy doesn't work for little Joey in your son's classroom, doesn't mean your child won't benefit from the same therapy. And just because little Joey is thriving with a particular treatment, that doesn't mean you'll see the same results ... but if you want to try something, other parents shouldn't be knocking you down!
C'mon people ... support each other! Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with other parents but don't tell them what will work for their child, you have no idea! And for Pete's sake, STOP fighting with each other - HELP each other!
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