Elise Horan

Digi PECS

Digi PECS was designed to equal communication opportunities for the students with non-verbal  Autism Spectrum Disorder at Mt Richmond School. The device allows students to communicate the way they feel comfortable, using text, images, and audio options. Digi PECS helps develop  communication skills, better express emotions, and enrich relationships - shortening the communication gap between teachers, students, and peers. The device takes several aspects of communication tools currently used at Mt Richmond School to create a more effective and enjoyable method of communicating. Communication boards, Flashcards, PODD Books, and iPads are all tools that the students use to communicate, however, some are hard to use quickly, heavy or inaccessible to some families. There are four stages of the Digi PECS device, in which the vocabulary advances and card quantity increases as the student learns how to use the device or whatever stage suits their current skills. The student presses the category button, which brings up a selection of cards that the student can choose from to communicate their need. If they choose to, the student can press the speaker button to verbalise the word.