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Abstract
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Objectives: The Picture Communication System (PECS) was developed in 1985 as a unique augmentative/alternative communication intervention package for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related developmental disabilities by Bondy A and Frost L. Many statistical or case studies on the effects of PECS on the development of communication, speech, play or problem behaviors have been reported. The objectives of this study were to explore how the parents felt about the effects of PECS on the daily life of their children and their own daily life utilizing a qualitative study method called as KJ-Method.
Methods: The subjects were 8 mothers of the persons with ASD. They were recruited through the Pyramidal Educational Consultants of Japan, the Kitasato University Center for Clinical Psychology and the TASUC group in 2014 and gave written informed consent to this study. A trained graduate student made a semi-structured interview with them. It took approximately fifty minutes to conduct the interview and recorded with a digital voice recorder. The recorded interviews were transcribed into text. Many ideas contained in the text of each interview was sorted into groups, based on their natural relationships using KJ-Method (affinity diagram) developed by Kawakita J in 1967. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University.
Results: Ideas contained in the text of each interview were sorted into several groups and all groups extracted from 8 cases were sorted into four groups; “Improvement of Communication Skill and Expectation for the Future Effects”, “Decrease of Problem Behaviors and Burden Placed on Parents”, “Request and Expectations for PECS” and “Difficulty in Using PECS”.
Conclusions: The results suggested that many of the parents of the person with ASD using PECS felt positive effects of PECS on the improvement communication skills and problem behaviors and decrease of burden on them. However, some mothers felt some difficulty in using PECS.
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