At Pyramid, it is our goal to help individuals with developmental disabilities, autism, and/or communication challenges learn to shape their own lives and participate in the world around them. Using a blend of broad spectrum applied behaviour analysis and practices supported by research and positive results, we give learners the skills to tell you what they want, what they need, what they see, and the unique educational environments they need to learn and grow towards greater independence.

The company was founded in 1992 by Andy Bondy, PhD., and Lori Frost, MS, CCC-SLP, developers of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and the Pyramid Approach to Education. They developed these practices with a focus on functional communication, learning, and designing teaching strategies to support learners  in their everyday environments and activities. As the company expanded across the United States and into other countries, more and more learners of all ages, along with their families, teachers, and support teams, benefited and continue to benefit from PECS and the Pyramid Approach.

Our Values

We are a passionate and innovative organization focused on bringing positive change to people’s lives. We value the creative and collaborative processes involved in contributing to the growth of our clients and our employees. We are data-informed and adaptable to our ever-changing environment and to the needs of the learners, families, and communities we serve.

Our team now spans the globe and is made up of professionals from a variety of backgrounds who share a passion for giving people of all ages the skills that will help them navigate their lives in the present and in the future. We provide training in a wide range of topics, including PECS, the Pyramid Approach to Education, communication, and behavior. We offer consultation in home, school, work and community settings, to help you and your team figure out what strategies will best suit your learner. If you have questions or want to connect with others experiencing similar challenges, you can join our online community. We also offer a selection of products designed for use with PECS and for assisting learners in the classroom, community and throughout their daily lives. You can check out our videos demonstrating our products and we’re always happy to help as you choose which materials will work best for you.

We know you are dedicated to helping your learner make the best life for him or herself, and we would like to support you in this process.

Our Mission

Pyramid Educational Consultants is the worldwide source for both the Pyramid Approach to Education and the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Our goal is to provide the highest quality of training, consultation and support to parents, caregivers and professionals in the field of autism and developmental disabilities. Using functional, practical and evidence based interventions, our aim is to teach individuals how to effectively communicate, function independently and be productive in their schools, home, place of employment and community.

Position Statements

Identity-first and Person-first Language

Every person is unique, and not everyone likes to be described in the same way. Some people prefer to be referred to by their “identity first,” while others prefer to be addressed with “person-first” language. To be respectful and inclusive, we use both types of language in our presentations, on our websites, and in our communications. In our consultations or personal interactions, we always honor the individual’s preference and follow the lead of their caregiver or the educational team supporting them.

The Pyramid Approach to Education, PECS, and ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis)

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a scientific approach that studies behavior and the conditions influencing it. It began with a focus on helping individuals reduce and replace dangerous behaviors with safer alternatives. Another key focus of ABA has been skill acquisition in environments such as schools, homes, and communities. 

ABA has grown to encompass various fields, including education, disability support, organizational behavior management, and clinical psychology. One area where ABA has gained significant public recognition is autism intervention. The success of ABA in this field has led to the development of numerous public and private programs and recognition by medical insurance providers, who now support these services. 

However, there are many different approaches to teaching communication within ABA. Some focus on speech, others on sign language, and some use multiple methods, including visual supports like the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). 

Our company’s founders developed PECS and the Pyramid Approach in public schools, working with children, teenagers, and young adults aged 18 months to 21 years. Our approach is rooted in the science of teaching, behavior analysis, education, and speech-language pathology. It emphasizes the importance of developing functional skills and integrating communication into all activities and settings with the goal of helping individuals become independent and to advocate for themselves. 

Despite some criticisms of ABA for its past emphasis on compliance and repetition, PECS has consistently been reported to have positive outcomes. Over the past 30 years, there have been no strong negative reactions from individuals who have learned PECS through well-trained professionals. On the contrary, many have noted socio-emotional growth and improved communication. 

At Pyramid, we collaborate with educators, families, and learners to develop skills through meaningful goals and functional materials. The Pyramid Approach to Education encourages individuals to ask questions and provides strategies to assess the effectiveness of lessons. Our discussions with parents of learners requiring support have consistently revealed that they want the same outcomes for their children as all parents do: for their child to be happy and actively participate in society, including getting a job and living as independently as possible.   

Our goal is to support individuals in achieving these outcomes using effective teaching strategies tailored to their unique learning styles.

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

While working in public schools, our founders Lori Frost and Andy Bondy developed PECS as a method for teaching young learners how to communicate their desires by giving someone a picture of something they liked, wanted, or needed. This led to the creation of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), a proven approach that helps students acquire communication skills, enabling them to independently interact with others.

Historical practices that relied on individuals pointing to pictures to convey desires and needs had minimal success.

The PECS protocol evolved and expanded the use of pictures to include skills such as selecting pictures, overcoming barriers like distance and effort, constructing sentences with attributes and descriptors, and making comments and answering questions. Initial observations showed that PECS had an immediate impact, helping a diverse group of individuals develop a broad array of communication skills for use in various situations. This has been supported by hundreds of publications from around the world.

Since its inception in 1985, PECS has proven effective for hundreds of thousands of children, teenagers, and adults. Although our teaching strategies are tailored to the unique behavioral and learning characteristics of each individual, no strategy is universally applicable. This is true for PECS.

Some children use PECS temporarily before acquiring speech as their primary communication method, while others develop an extensive picture-based repertoire without significant functional speech, making the transition to a speech-generating device (SGD) appropriate. For learners with picture-pointing skills and joint-attention abilities, such as eye contact or other interpersonal skills, an SGD may be suitable from the start.

We avoid a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, insisting on individualized strategies.

Our team collaborates closely with families and works diligently with service providers to identify the best communication modality based on each learner’s current skill set and needs. We empower individuals with skills to help them to communicate meaningfully and functionally within their communities through the most effective modality.

Is PECS Compliance Based?

The answer to the question, ‘Is PECS compliance based?’ is a resounding, ‘No!’ Some people suggest that the first Phase of PECS® involves compliance because the learner must give a picture to get a desired item. “If I know the child wants the ball because I see her reaching for the ball, why don’t I just give it to her? Why insist on the exchange?” Should we give a ball to the child just because she wants it? The answer is, sometimes! The answer is not, always. Of course, some of the time we should simply be nice and give children things they like and enjoy. However, consider what would happen if we tried to do that all the time. We would have to continuously observe what the child wants moment by moment, anticipating every desire to every degree possible and also hope that we never make a mistake. Not only would this approach be challenging to implement across settings and people, more importantly, it would be a disservice to the learner’s developing skills. 

The earliest Phases of the PECS Protocol focus on teaching a learner that communication involves delivering a message to another person. Our focus is on immediately teaching meaningful communication skills that are viewed as critical for everyone, so our early implementation focuses on the learner’s interests. Everyone needs to learn to request some things and activities (or their removal), ask for help, signal the need for a break, respond to questions such as “Do you want this?, wait, transition, and follow functional instructions. Without these universally critical communication skills, serious barriers result for the learner as well as those interacting with them.  

The PECS protocol differs from other communication strategies because it prioritizes teaching individuals to initiate communication, rather than waiting for a communication partner to initiate, for example by asking learners what they want. The communication partner always waits for the learner to begin or “go first” in the interaction. When teaching a learner to communicate using PECS, we are directing their self-driven motivation for an item or activity towards a form of communication that is more readily and universally understood by others. The learner’s reach for an item is guided towards communicating a request to another person. If the learner strongly protests or resists, we immediately stop providing guidance for the picture exchange. We work quickly to identify what they need or are interested in, but never force communication. Our goal is for independent, autonomous communication, so we eliminate ALL prompts as quickly as possible based on learner progress. 

Initiating communication and requesting are the first skills taught in PECS, and the protocol then leads to teaching commenting (e.g. I feel, It’s, I don’t like and more!), answering questions and engaging in conversations. We quickly work on teaching our learners self-advocacy skills beginning with indicating “no” and work diligently to honor their choices. PECS is not only about teaching people to ask for things, but to ask for help, to join in activities with others, ask questions, indicate when they don’t want something, share their thoughts and feelings, and other skills significant for them.  

The PECS protocol works with the learner’s motivations but does not demand or require compliance. It is a fundamental right of all people to acquire functional communication skills, which includes requesting actions, things, and events. These skills are foundational to support self-advocacy and independence. As our learners develop these critical skills, they become empowered to make their opinions known, to act upon their environments, and to have more choices and opportunities available to them. 

Where We Are Today

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Our consultants operate in countries all over the world, bringing effective strategies and positive changes to the lives of individuals with a variety of needs, goals, and perspectives. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and the Pyramid Approach to Education are widely respected in the fields of autism and applied behaviour analysis and trusted by those who use them every day to communicate, learn, work, and live. To date our foundational texts, The PECS Training Manual and The Pyramid Approach to Education, have been updated and translated into 15 languages. Pyramid operates offices in 15 countries and continues to grow. In addition, we collaborate with local organisations around the world to make our methods accessible to anyone who can benefit from them.

Who We Help

Children & Adults

Our services help individuals with autism and a range of other challenges, from developmental delays and physical and intellectual disabilities to hearing impairment, brain injuries, and any other conditions that pose obstacles to everyday functional activities. Learners with limited vocal communication gain a voice through the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), learning to interact and build skills for a lifetime of learning. Using the Pyramid Approach to Education, we adapt the classroom to students’ diverse needs, helping them learn effectively from the very beginning. We use the same tools to assist teenagers and adults as they navigate school, work, and community. As our clients and their support teams figure out what shape their lives will take, we help them develop the functional skills they can apply to their daily interactions and activities.

When we consult with individuals, we take a unique approach each time, first listening to what they want to achieve and then implementing the plan that works best for their team. We can meet you in whatever location and through whatever mode works best for you, at home, school, or a treatment center, online via live remote, or through phone or video consultation.

Professionals

Through our trainings and workshops, we give professionals the tools they need to start teaching their students functional skills right away. With the theoretical foundation, practical examples, and opportunities for hands-on practice with an experienced consultant, each of our workshops will prepare you to implement our protocols. Our workshops cover a range of topics and are attended by professionals in a variety of fields. Whatever your role and whoever you work with, we aim to provide you with the guidance to adapt our methods to your specific environment.

Our consultants work with schools and facilities to support them in using our systems to build better learning environments. Giving each student the functional skills they need to navigate their everyday life fosters an inclusive, interactive learning environment in which everyone is supported in achieving their potential. We can help you organise your classroom and curriculum using the Pyramid Approach, assist your team in creating and working towards shared goals, and collaborate to overcome obstacles as your learners develop their skills.

Families

Being able to communicate with each other allows all family members to thrive and become better able to support each other. Our strategies are meant to help individuals succeed not only in a classroom but at home, in their community, and everywhere they go, and caregivers and siblings are important team members in this process. We have designed our tools to be useful for all members of the family and easily incorporated into busy schedules, providing opportunities throughout the week to communicate and build skills. Some families work with us in the beginning to get their learner started, while we’ve built consulting relationships with some families over many years. Whatever the time we spend with your family, we are dedicated to helping you achieve your goals.

Parents attending our trainings are empowered to use our methods through practical advice, demonstration, and role-playing. Our consultants will lead you through the theoretical foundations and prepare you to use these tools and strategies with your child right away. We’re always happy to provide guidance as you move forward, answering your questions and helping you to approach challenges as they arise.