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.

History

Facilitated communication first drew attention in Australia in 1977, when Rosemary Crossley, teacher at St. Nicholas Hospital, produced communication from 12 children diagnosed with cerebral palsy and other handicaps and argued that they possessed normal intellegence. These findings were disputed by the hospital and the Health Commission of Victoria; however, in 1979 one of Crossley's students, Anne McDonald, left the hospital after successfully fighting an action for Habeas Corpus in the Supreme Court of Victoria. After continuing controversy the Victorian Government closed the hospital in 1984-5 and rehoused all the residents in the community. Rosemary Crossley wrote a book about the experience called "Annie's Coming Out" in 1982.

Related Topics:
Australia - 1977 - Cerebral palsy - Health Commission of Victoria - Habeas Corpus - Supreme Court of Victoria

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Facilitated communication gained more credibility when Arthur Schawlow, a Nobel-prize-winning physicist, used it with his autistic son in the early 1980s. His son was later able to type with little support: just a hand on his shoulder. His experience and its effects on the disability community are described on the Stanford University website http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/1999/may5/schawlowobit-55-a.html:

Related Topics:
Arthur Schawlow - Stanford University

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"They became champions of the technique and were largely responsible for introducing it to the United States, where it remains controversial."

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In 1989 Douglas Biklen, a sociologist and professor of special education at Syracuse University, investigated Rosemary Crossley's work in Australia. She was then Director of DEAL (Deal Communication Centre), Australia's first federally-funded centre for augmentative communication.

Related Topics:
Douglas Biklen - Syracuse University - Augmentative communication

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Biklen helped popularize the method in the USA and created the Facilitated Communication Institute at Syracuse University http://soeweb.syr.edu/thefci/. The method spread across the USA, especially due to its seeming success with people with autism, a severe developmental disability accompanied by difficulties with communication.

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After starting to use the method in Syracuse, Biklen reported startling results in which students with severe autism were producing entire paragraphs of clarity and intellect. This produced an explosion of popularity. Facilitated communication was strongly embraced by many parents of disabled children, who hoped that their children were capable of more than had been thought.

Related Topics:
Syracuse - Disabled

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