Facilitated communication

Facilitated communication (FC) is a method that purports to help people with speech or expressive problems to point to spell out words and sentences. The goal of the method is to enable the person to use an augmentative communication device independently. Usually, the facilitator holds the person's hand, wrist or arm in his hand, prompting the patient to pick out letters on a letterboard or keyboard. The facilitator prompts the client to point to letters and puts slight pressure back on the hand, wrist or arm as the client points toward the communication device.

Related Topics:
Augmentative communication - Hand - Wrist - Arm - Keyboard

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Facilitated communication is most often used with persons with developmental disorders, most commonly autism and Down syndrome, populations in which some neurologists believe there is a high incidence of dyspraxia (Bauman, 1993).

Related Topics:
Developmental disorder - Autism - Down syndrome - Neurologist - Dyspraxia

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The practice is controversial, since a majority of controlled studies have shown that it is not the patient who is producing the words, but the facilitator, who cues the subject (unconsciously) through the observer-expectancy effect. Facilitated communication advocates claim that such results may be due to bad study design, and point out that some controlled studies have shown positive results (i.e., authorship by the user and not the facilitator); also, some FC users can now communicate without any physical support at all, via a gradual process called "fading". The scientific community remains divided on the issue, with a large majority remaining skeptical.

Related Topics:
Controlled - Observer-expectancy effect

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