Episode 220 - Facilitated Communication

While science has researched the effectiveness of many augmentative and assistive communication methods, one disproven, pseudoscientific technique just keeps refusing to stay in the dustbin of history: Facilitated communication. This week, we go back to the 90s to review how facilitated communication stole the voices of people with disabilities, the research that originally kicked facilitated communication to the curb, and why it remains important to guard against FC’s seemingly never-ending resurgence. Plus, Rob fights city hall poorly. Also, if you’ve never seen it, be sure to watch Prisoners of Silence, a documentary from 1992 that we all love and talk about a TON! This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU. Articles discussed this episode: Travers, J.C., Tincani, M.J., & Lang, R. (2014). Facilitated communication denies people with disabilities their voice. Research and Pactice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 39, 195-202. doi: 10.1177/1540796914556778 Eberlin, M., McConnachie, G., Ibel, S., & Volpe, L. (1993). Facilitated communication: A failure to replicate the phenomenon. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23, 507-530. doi: 10.1007/BF01046053 Montee, B.B., Miltenberger, R.G., & Wittrock, D. (1995). An experimental analysis of facilitated communication. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 28, 189-200. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1995.28-189 Roane, H.S., Kadey, H.J., & Sullivan, W.E. (2019). Evaluation of word recognition following typing produced through facilitated communication. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 52, 1107-1112. doi: 10.1002/jaba.587 If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at [email protected] for further assistance.