The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) focuses on the initiation component of communication, which is used in a variety of settings. Students are taught to approach and give a picsym of a desired item to a communicative partner in exchange for that item. In doing that, the student initiates a communicative act for a concrete outcome within a social context. Then the student is taught to sequence a sentence using picsyms that are placed on a sentence strip. The sentence strip is then handed to the communication partner.