Facilitated communication in autism :controversial technique or essential technique.
Facilitated Communication in Autism
Facilitated communication is a highly controversial technique for purportedly allowing autistic individuals to communicate more clearly. When facilitated communication is used in autism, a facilitator holds the arm or hand of the autistic individual over a keyboard or letter board, while the autistic individual types.
Proponents of using facilitated communication in autism assert that the autistic individual is able to communicate more clearly due to the emotional support and physically stabilizing effect of the facilitator's touch. Facilitators are not supposed to influence the autistic patient's selection of letters in any way, except during initial training. It is claimed that many individuals previously thought to be completely illiterate and uncommunicative have revealed, through facilitated communication, normal intelligence levels and a capacity for abstract thought considered impossible in autism.
Critics of facilitated communication point out that many studies show no effective communication when the patient is given input (auditory or visual) that the facilitator does not also receive, suggesting that the facilitator is actually guiding the autistic individual's hand towards 'correct' answers. Other studies have shown that patients who displayed limited communication ability unaided performed worse on communication tests when assigned a facilitator.
Until facilitated communication has been subjected to vigorous clinical trials, opposed by many facilitated communication supporters and practitioners, it is safest to treat this procedure as highly experimental, due to the risk of legal and/or caretaking decisions being made for an autistic individual when it is actually the facilitator's wishes being communicated.