Gourt > Society > Issues > Health > Conditions and Diseases > Autism > Facilitated Communication
Facilitated communication (FC) is a method intended to help people with communication disorders to use communication aids with their hands. The facilitator offers emotional and physical support, often steadying the user's hand, wrist or arm as the user points toward the communication device (often a picture board, speech synthesizer or keyboard). The immediate aim of FC is to allow the user to make choices and to communicate in a way that has been impossible previously. The ultimate goal of the method is to enable the person to use an augmentative communication device independently.
Facilitated communication is most often used with persons with developmental disabilities, most commonly autism and Down syndrome, populations in which some neurologists believe there is a high incidence of dyspraxia, or difficulty with planning and/or executing voluntary movement (Bauman, 1993).
The practice is controversial for several reasons (see research section). One of the reasons is that the majority of controlled studies have shown that it is not the user who is producing the words, but the facilitator, who cues the subject (unconsciously) through the observer-expectancy effect. In these cases the words do not derive from the user but from the facilitator, who is unaware of this fact. There is also disagreement as to the relationship of facilitator-steering to recommended facilitation techniques: proponents often argue that facilitator-steering arises from a misapplication of FC techniques. That there are such cases, i.e. users who are inadvertently steered by the facilitators, is not controversial. The controversy is does FC produce sufficient authentic writers to justify its use by practitioners.
More on [ Facilitated communication ]
@ktoyne it's interpersonal communication facilitated electronically.they get hung up on the tech but it's what people've been doing forever
Amerikag (Amerika) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:12:41 -0000
@ktoyne it's interpersonal communication facilitated electronically.they get hung up on the tech but it's what people've been doing forever
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A History of Facilitated Communication: Science, Pseudoscience, and Antiscience: Science Working Group on Facilitated Communication - A paper published by The American Psychologist concluding that in controlled research settings people with disabilities were unable to respond accurately to label or describe stimuli unseen by their assistants, and that the responses are in fact controlled by the assistants.
Meta Description: [ The home page for the American Psychological Association. ]
Exploring Facilitated Communication - Article published in the September 1995 The Rocky Mountain Skeptic addressing the issue of FC being used as the basis for allegations of physical or sexual abuse by a parent or caretaker.
Facilitated Communication 2000 Denmark - Articles, references and other information concerning Facilitated Communication, a method to help people with pointing disabilities and lack of speech to communicate through typing.
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Facilitated Communication and Autism: Separating Fact From Fiction - An article written by Marcia Datlow Smith and Ronald G. Belcher which concludes that FC should be considered experimental and its use limited to scientific inquiry.
Facilitated Communication Institute - A current schedule of upcoming activities including research, public education, training and scholarly seminars at the Institute as well as the full text of conference keynote speeches by FC users.
Facilitated Communication: All Sides of the Issue - An essay on FC including its history, the controversy, validation studies and commentary from the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.
Lonesome Doves - A Group of facilitated communication users in Pennsylvania who are actively promoting FC as a valid method of alternative and augmentive communication. This website is designed by them.
Skeptic's Dictionary: Facilitated Communication - An essay describing the pros and cons of FC with links to testimonials and research.
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