If your child uses PECS at school or in speech therapy, someone has probably suggested trying a communication app by now. That suggestion can pull you in two directions at once. You do not want to walk away from a system your child worked hard to learn. You also do not want to hold them back from a bigger vocabulary and a voice that speaks out loud.
This is not a fight where you have to pick a side. PECS and communication apps are both forms of AAC (augmentative and alternative communication), and many speech-language pathologists use both with the same child. If AAC is new territory for you, our guide to what AAC is covers the basics. This article covers the specific question: how PECS and apps differ, when a switch makes sense, and how to make the move without losing skills your child already has.
What PECS is, and why it earned its reputation
PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. Andy Bondy, PhD, and Lori Frost, MS, CCC-SLP, developed it in the United States in 1985, and Pyramid Educational Consultants distributes and teaches it today. It comes from a different tradition than most apps: PECS is grounded in B.F. Skinner's work on verbal behavior and the principles of applied behavior analysis, and it teaches communication through prompting and reinforcement rather than through technology. ASHA, the professional association for speech-language pathologists in the US, classifies PECS as low-tech aided AAC: real picture cards, a real binder, no battery.
PECS teaches communication in six phases:
- How to Communicate. The child hands a single picture to a partner to get the thing on the picture.
- Distance and Persistence. The child learns to go find the communication book, go find a person, and keep trying when the first attempt does not land.
- Picture Discrimination. The child picks the right picture from two or more options.
- Sentence Structure. The child builds "I want" plus an item on a sentence strip, and an Attributes and Language Expansion stage adds describing words like colors and sizes.
- Responsive Requesting. The child answers the question "What do you want?"
- Commenting. The child starts sharing observations with starters like "I see" and "I hear."
Pyramid describes PECS as an evidence-based practice and points to more than 240 research articles worldwide. Whatever you decide about apps, treat PECS as what it is: a serious, well-studied system, not a stopgap.
The part of PECS that is easy to underrate
Watch a child in Phase II and you see the skill that makes PECS special. To get a cookie, the child has to pick up a card, walk to a person, get that person's attention, and put the card in their hand. That whole sequence is initiation: communication the child starts on their own, aimed at another human being.
Apps do not teach this by default. A child can tap a button on a tablet with nobody in the room, and the tablet speaks either way. Any good transition plan protects the approach-a-person habit that PECS builds, because everything else stands on it.
What an AAC app adds
So why consider an app at all? Four things, mainly.
- A voice. An app speaks out loud. The cashier, the grandparent on a video call, and the substitute teacher all understand it without training. A handed picture card only works with a partner who knows the system.
- Room to grow. A PECS book holds as many cards as you can print, laminate, and Velcro. An app can organize hundreds of symbols into pages, and adding a new word takes seconds instead of a trip to the laminator.
- Data. An app can record which words your child uses and how often, so you and your SLP can see progress instead of guessing at it.
- Sentences that sound like sentences. As a child moves past requesting into commenting and questions, a speech-generating app lets them string words together and hear the result spoken aloud.
One fear deserves a direct answer here. Many parents worry that a talking device removes the child's reason to speak. ASHA says the opposite: AAC use does not hinder natural speech. Early AAC use can help develop speech and language, may improve receptive vocabulary in young children, and may help natural speech improve when it is part of a multimodal approach. If speech comes, the device will not have been the thing standing in its way.
What a rushed switch can cost
Handing a PECS learner a tablet too early can go badly, and the clearest warnings come from the people who built PECS. Pyramid Educational Consultants cautions that asking a learner to master core communication skills and device navigation at the same time is too much for some children. The risk they name is concrete: the child abandons the device, and communication skills the child already had can erode along the way. Pyramid also notes that "some people will maintain PECS as their lifelong communication system," and describes that outcome as a legitimate one, not a failure.
At the same time, Pyramid is not anti-technology. The company runs an official training course on transitioning from PECS to speech-generating devices. Read that as the real position of PECS's creators: moving to a device is a supported, expected path for many learners. The disagreement worth having is about timing, not about whether apps are legitimate.
In practice, a rushed transition tends to lose three things: the initiation habit (tapping a screen does not require finding a person), persistence (a frustrated child may quit a confusing menu faster than a familiar binder), and momentum (weeks spent teaching navigation are weeks not spent communicating). A gradual plan keeps all three.
Signs your child may be ready
Pyramid publishes readiness criteria for moving a PECS learner to a speech-generating device, and they make a practical checklist for parents and SLPs:
- Independent initiation. Your child approaches a partner and gets their attention without being prompted.
- Solid discrimination. Your child can pick the right picture from a page of at least 20.
- Navigation. Your child moves across three or more pages in the communication book to find what they need.
- Sentence building. Your child builds and exchanges a sentence of two to three pictures.
Add one more that is not on Pyramid's list but belongs on yours: your child's SLP agrees the time is right. A speech-language pathologist can run a proper evaluation, match features to your child's needs, and set the transition up so school and home pull in the same direction.
How to transition gradually
There is no prize for switching fast. A transition that takes a semester and sticks beats one that takes a week and collapses. A sequence that works for many families:
- Start with your SLP. Agree on the goal, the app, and who teaches what. If your child gets services at school, loop the team in early.
- Make the app look familiar. Set up the home page to mirror your child's current PECS book: same core words, similar layout, familiar images. Apps with custom symbols let you photograph the exact cards your child already knows.
- Pick one routine. Introduce the app in a single motivating context, like snack time, while everything else stays on PECS. Expand only after requests in that context are solid.
- Keep the binder. Do not retire the PECS book. It is the fallback when the tablet is charging, broken, or overwhelming, and it keeps skills warm if the app stalls.
- Model, model, model. Use the app yourself while you talk: tap "more" as you say "more." Children learn AAC the way they learn speech, by watching people they love use it.
- Protect the exchange. Keep expecting your child to come to you and get your attention, not just tap from across the room. The device changes; the social habit should not.
- Watch the data and be willing to step back. If communication drops and stays down, return to PECS calmly and try again later. Going back for a while is information your SLP can use, not a verdict on your child.
PECS vs AAC apps at a glance
| PECS | AAC app | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Low-tech aided AAC: physical picture cards exchanged with a partner | High-tech aided AAC on a tablet, phone, or computer |
| Speech output | None; the partner reads the card | Spoken aloud by the device |
| Teaches best | Initiation, persistence, approaching a partner | Vocabulary growth, sentence building, being understood by strangers |
| Vocabulary size | Limited by printing, laminating, and binder space | Hundreds of symbols organized into pages, expandable in seconds |
| Progress data | Collected by hand | Recorded as the child communicates |
| Cost to start | Materials and training; no device needed | A one-time app purchase or a subscription, plus a device the family may already own |
Where dedicated devices fit, and when they beat an app
To be honest about the whole landscape: an app on a family tablet is not the only high-tech option, and it is not always the best one.
Dedicated speech-generating devices from companies like Tobii Dynavox and PRC-Saltillo are built for this job alone. They cost a lot at retail: third-party buyer guides place dedicated devices at roughly USD $3,000 to $8,000 or more as of August 2026, and vendors quote pricing case by case. Funding changes that math, though. Medicare in the US covers SGDs as durable medical equipment, with patients typically paying a 20 percent share per Tobii Dynavox's funding guidance. In Ontario, the Assistive Devices Program covers 75 percent of the cost of approved communication aids, and families receiving Ontario Works, ODSP, or Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities are covered in full. Both major vendors run funding departments that help with paperwork and appeals, and both offer trial device loans so you can test before committing.
Dedicated devices also survive childhood better. Tobii Dynavox's dedicated models carry five-year warranties, with accidental-damage coverage on models like the TD Navio, plus rugged cases and toughened glass. Consumer tablets ship with shorter coverage, and standard tablet warranties do not cover drops. If your child needs eye-gaze access, is hard on equipment, or qualifies for insurance or provincial funding, take a serious look at a dedicated device before committing to an app. An SLP evaluation is the doorway to that funding, which is one more reason to start there.
Where VoiceBloom fits
VoiceBloom is our AAC symbol-board app for nonverbal and minimally verbal children, and this transition is a scenario we built for. It runs on iOS, Android, and the web, including Chromebooks, so the board can live on hardware you already own. Custom symbols let you rebuild your child's PECS vocabulary with the same images they already know. Weekly plain-language progress reports show what your child is saying and how that changes over time, and a built-in coach helps you learn modeling as you go. The app works offline, supports five languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese), and includes a therapist portal with IEP-ready notes for SLPs who want to follow along; the Therapy plan is custom-priced for clinics and therapists, so contact us for a quote.
The Family plan costs CA$19.99 per month or CA$199.99 per year as of August 2026; check the store listing for current pricing. There is a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, which matters here: a month is long enough to run the one-routine experiment above and see real data before you spend anything.
And the honest close: VoiceBloom is not the right move for every PECS family. If your child is still working through Phases I and II, stay with PECS and let initiation take root. If your child needs eye-gaze access or you want the funded dedicated-device route, start with an SLP evaluation instead. If you are ready to compare apps, our guides to choosing an AAC app and AAC app pricing in 2026 lay out the field, including where other apps are the stronger fit. When you want to see how a PECS book translates onto a screen, try the demo or look over our plans. Wherever you land, the goal stays the same: more ways for your child to be heard.
Frequently asked questions
Will an AAC app stop my child from learning to talk?
No. ASHA states that AAC use does not hinder natural speech. Early AAC use can help develop speech and language, may improve receptive vocabulary in young children, and may support natural speech as part of a multimodal approach.
Does my child need to finish all six PECS phases before trying an app?
No. Pyramid's readiness criteria focus on skills rather than phase numbers: initiating independently, discriminating at least 20 pictures per page, navigating three or more pages, and building a two-to-three-picture sentence. Your SLP can assess where your child stands against that list.
Can my child use PECS and an app at the same time?
Yes, and during a transition they should. Many SLPs run both side by side, introducing the app in one routine while the PECS book covers everything else. Multimodal communication, mixing pictures, a device, gestures, and speech sounds, is normal and healthy.
What if we switch and it is not working?
Go back to PECS without guilt. Pyramid notes that some people keep PECS as their lifelong communication system, and that is a legitimate outcome. You can try a device again later when skills or motivation change, with your SLP adjusting the plan.
How much does an AAC app cost compared with a dedicated device?
VoiceBloom's Family plan is CA$19.99 per month or CA$199.99 per year as of August 2026 (check the store listing for current pricing), with a 30-day free trial and no credit card. Third-party buyer guides place dedicated devices at roughly USD $3,000 to $8,000 or more, though Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and Ontario's Assistive Devices Program often cover much of that cost.
Is PECS evidence-based?
Yes. Pyramid Educational Consultants describes PECS as an evidence-based practice supported by more than 240 research articles worldwide, and ASHA classifies it as a low-tech aided AAC intervention.