MY APPROACH
ABOUT ME
Clémence Whitten
PECS Consultant, Psychoeducation
Clémence Whitten is qualified in Child Developmental Psychology from Marie Haps School in Brussels, Belgium, with a specialisation in educational psychology and motor skills.
She completed her field work in a Belgian scholastic program for disadvantaged children, testing for diagnosis, assessing and designing learning and reorientation strategies to help them get back on track in their learning development.
Moving to London in 2017, she brought her passion for childhood development with her, particularly within the family setting.
Clémence is experienced in observation and analysis of child behaviour and development, and has worked in a Montessori setting and directly with parents to support their children in their learning progress. Clémence works with children of all ages in English, French and British Sign Language, providing counselling to develop their autonomy with functional materials, providing tips and tricks.
Play, Communicate, Learn
Passionate about the immense potential of the PECS system to improve the communication ability of children with various cognitive, physical and communication challenges, Clémence’s mission is now to share and spread everything that she knows, providing the key tools to manage certain behaviours.
Clémence offers support, advice and materials in a variety of settings including parenting guidance in private homes, and advice and assistance including training for the use of the PECS method for staff and children in schools and nurseries.
Clémence supports children with delays or difficulties in language development, and those suspected to be or confirmed to be on the autistic spectrum, and introduces the PECS method to promote health and wellbeing with the child’s needs at the centre, empowering the child to express their wants and needs, but also to comment and interact with the world around them.
What is the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)?
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a unique communication method. The primary goal of PECS is to teach functional communication. PECS is an internationally proven, effective communication toolkit, to support learners of all ages with various cognitive, physical and communication challenges.
The PECS system is specifically developed to create spontaneous communication through attainable prompting and reinforcement strategies, leading to independent communication.
PECS consists of six phases. The main concept of PECS is an exchange mechanism using pictures. From the start, the individual is taught to present a single picture of a desired item or action to a “communication partner” who immediately recognises the receipt of the picture as a request.
The system goes on to teach to differentiate between pictures and how to put them together in sentences. In the more advanced phases, we enable individuals to use modifiers, answer questions and comment. Research has shown that some learners using PECS also develop speech. Others may transition to a speech generating device (SGD). The body of research supporting the effectiveness of PECS as an evidence-based practice is substantial and continues to expand, with more than 190 research articles from all over the world.
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