Evaluating the effectiveness of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for children with autism

ISRCTN	ISRCTN58763208
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN58763208
Secondary identifying numbers	TGT 4/TGT39

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Not provided at time of registration

Prof Patricia Howlin
Scientific

Dept of Community Health Sciences
St George's University of London
Tooting
London
SW17 0RE
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)208 725 5604

Study design	Randomised controlled trial
Primary study design	Interventional
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)	Other
Study type	Treatment
Scientific title
Study objectives	Training in PECS will result in significant increases in rate of use of PECS symbols, rate of social initiations, and scores on language tests.
Ethics approval(s)	Not provided at time of registration
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Autism
Intervention	Intervention: Training children to use the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) in schools. It is a randomized group trial of immediate intervention, versus delayed intervention, versus no intervention (assessment only).
Intervention type	Other
Primary outcome measure	Increase in use of PECS symbols; increase in rates of social initiations
Secondary outcome measures	Increase in scores on tests of language expression and comprehension (Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test, & British Picture Vocabulary Scale)
Overall study start date	01/01/2003
Completion date	31/12/2005

Participant type(s)	Patient
Age group	Child
Lower age limit	5 Years
Upper age limit	9 Years
Sex	Both
Target number of participants	90
Key inclusion criteria	Children meeting diagnositc criteria for autism; aged 5-9 years; enrolled in full-time, specialist education; either no spoken language or expressive language limited to single words; not using PECS beyoind Stage 1.
Key exclusion criteria	No exclusion criteria with regard to IQ, social class, ethnicity etc.
Date of first enrolment	01/01/2003
Date of final enrolment	31/12/2005

Dept of Community Health Sciences

London
SW17 0RE
United Kingdom

St George's University of London (UK)
University/education

Tooting
London
SW17 0RE
England
United Kingdom

Charity

Three Guineas Trust (UK)

No information available

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary	Not provided at time of registration
Publication and dissemination plan	Not provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Results article	results	01/05/2007		Yes	No