Well, I am just going to throw some ideas out and hopefully if they don't help in themselves they might give you some other ideas to work with! Our son is completely non-verbal and also fairly low functioning, so what we do may or may not work for your son.
If your son uses the PECS system, have you tried setting up a picture schedule for him at home? It can be quite simple or more detailed depending on his needs. There is a book called "Activity Schedules for Children with Autism: Teaching Independent Behavior" by Lynn McClannahan and Patricia Krantz. It covers a wide range of picture schedule ideas for kids and adults at different functional levels. The idea is to give him a structure to his day so he knows how to channel his energy and behaviors. You can even start it out more detailed and then lessen the detail if he begins to structure his own time more appropriately. You could include detailed pictures for dressing, breakfast, outside play, table work, etc. or however would work for your family's typical day. (We don't have typical days but that's just us!)
Also in that book is a section on setting up a little activity book that you can use when your son needs something to do - you can then set up different work baskets that have tasks that he can do independently. You can have several different options so you can rotate through them. That way you can set up the book (with velcro PECS symbols similar I think to what you have done already) that show him what activities he can choose from - he gets the book, then gets the baskets that correspond with what you have chosesn for that day and completes them on his own. Not sure if that makes sense, but the idea is that once you have shown him what is expected he will be able to get the activity book (which may be on his schedule once or twice a day or more) and complete 3-5 tasks or activities independently. They don't have to be in actual baskets, but can be whatever activities or tasks he can do independently by either just looking at the picture or following simple instructions however you set them up for him (PECS, words, etc.) Once he finishes an activity he puts that picture in the "finished" basket. One thing the book did suggest with this idea was to have a high preference activity at the end, whether it be a snack or a favorite game, to increase the motivation for the kids to do the work on their own. It also suggested to always have an interactive activity somewhere in there, whether it be a game, book, or whatever, where the child needs to come and request your participation to promote appropriate social interaction. If you need some time for yourself to complete other work you may not want this on every schedule, but if your son needs to work on this skill it is a good way to do it, assuming he is able to follow the instructions properly and independently to come and get you for those activities. One thing our consultant stressed with these work basket type activities was that they have to be skills the child has already mastered - this is both to prevent unnecessary frustration but also to promote the independent working and time management skills. A great book if you are looking for ideas for work basket activities is "Tasks Galore" by Laurie Eckenrode, Pat Fennell and Kathy Hearsey. Again, there are ideas for all different skill levels, including for verbal and non-verbal kids.
These are things that we are working on with our son. Again, not sure if you have tried them or if you think they would be appropriate for your son. Our son very much needs the visual structure provided by the pictures in order to help keep his behavior in line and just for his own sense of accomplishment and happiness it seems. He gets very frustrated when he doesn't know what to expect or if he thinks he has done something wrong, and unfortunately targets his little brother the most with his aggressive behaviors. However, he LOVES the success he feels of accomplishing his therapy goals and having a sense of independence that the schedules and baskets give him.
Hope this helps a little - if something isn't clear let me know. Either way, I hope you can find something that works for you and your son!
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