A lack of functional communication negatively impacts a student's academic and social-emotional success. Schools are in the position to create systems and protocols that would allow students to be taught a method to communicate functionally. This dissertation project sought to answer the question: How can early childhood students with no verbal communication skills be taught to functionally communicate by the end of their early childhood education? Implementation of a picture exchange communication system (PECS) that students use with their peers took place with four non-verbal students in the full-day 4-year-old early childhood classroom. This implementation took place in a Mid-Atlantic state public school from November 2021 through January 2022 to determine if having the students use PECS with their peers will increase their ability to develop functional communication. The findings of this study will provide information on how PECS impacts students' ability to communicate functionally who are non-verbal and have autism. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]