Despite the overwhelming evidence against its effectiveness, facilitated communication continues to be used and marketed as a legitimate treatment for autism.
This page is meant to function as a growing list of resources to help inform parents, instructors, students, and practitioners about the dangers of facilitated communication.
Information for this page is collected from a variety of sources. Of note, many of the below articles have been sourced from the Twitter feeds of Stuart Vyse, Dr. Jim Todd, Dr. Bronwyn Hemsley, and Dr. Jason Travers.
This page is being continuously updated, so be sure to come back for more content.
Position Statements
Statement on Facilitated Communication by the American Psychological Association
Statement on Facilitated Communication by the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association
Statement on Facilitated Communication by the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Statement on Facilitated Communication and Rapid Prompting Method by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Compilation of Position Statements courtesy of the Behavior Analysis Association of Michigan
News Articles
It’s Time to Stop Exposing People to the Dangers of Facilitated Communication – The Conversation article by Bronwyn Hemsley, Howard Shane, James Todd, Ralf Schlosser, and Russell Lang
Facilitated Communication Has Been Called an Abuse of Human Rights. Why is it Still Around? – Forbes article published by Steven Salzberg
Facilitated Communication Conference Draws Fire at University of Northern Iowa – The Gazette article published by Vanessa Miller
Academics Criticize Conference Co-hosted by SU – Daily Orange article published by Jordan Muller
The Strange Case of Anna Stubblefield – NY Times article by Daniel Engber
Ex-Rutgers Prof Admits It Was a Crime To Have Sex with Disabled Man – NJ.com article by Thomas Moriarty
Double Talk: Syracuse University Institute Continues to Use Discredited Technique with Dangerous Effects – Daily Orange article by Michael Burke
Educator Trained in Discredited Communication Method at Syracuse University Pleads Guilty to Criminal Sexual Conduct – Daily Orange article by Michael Burke
Apple’s Autism Ad of Magical Thinking – Article by Jules Montague
Why Communication from a ‘Locked-in’ Child is a Miracle We Must Question – Article by Christopher French and Michael Marshall
Why a Controversial Method for Autism Communication Hasn’t Disappeared – Article by James Elliott
The Enduring Legend of the Changeling – Article by Stuart Vyse
How a Teacher’s “Junk Science” Landed a Dad in Jail on Charge of Raping His Autistic Son – Article by David Ovalle and Kyra Gurney
Facilitated Communication Rears Its Ugly Head Again – Article by Steven Novella, MD
Daughter of Wolsingham Man Kept in Secure Unit for 6 Months Following False Abuse Allegations – Article published in the Northern Echo
Suffering at the Hands of the Protectors – Article published in the Sydney Morning Herald – Perhaps the first newspaper report on the dangers of Facilitated Communication
Journal Articles
Rapid Prompting Method and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Systematic Review Exposes Lack of Evidence – Article by Ralf W. Schlosser, Bronwyn Hemsley, Howard Shane, James Todd, Russell Lang, Scott O. Lilienfeld, David Trembath, Mark Mostert, Seraphina Fong, and Samuel Odom
Stolen Voices: Facilitated Communication is an Abuse of Human Rights – Article by Jeff Chan and Karen Nankervis
Facilitated Communication Denies People With Disabilities Their Voice – Article by Jason Travers, Matt Tincani, and Russ Lang
Authorship in Facilitated Communication: An Analysis of 11 Cases – Article by Timo Saloviita, Marjatta Leppänen, and Ulla Ojalammi
Systematic review of facilitated communication 2014–2018 finds no new evidence that messages delivered using facilitated communication are authored by the person with disability – Article by Bronwyn Hemsley, Lucy Bryant, Ralf Schlosser, Howard Shane, Russell Lang, Diane Paul, Meher Banajee, and Marie Ireland
Whose words are these? Statements derived from Facilitated Communication and Rapid Prompting Method undermine the credibility of Jaswal & Akhtar’s social motivation hypotheses – Article published by Stuart Byse, Bronwyn Hemsley, Russell Lang, Scott Lilienfeld, Mark Mostert, Henry Schlinger, Howard Shane, Mark Sherry, and James Todd. This article was published in response to an article by Jaswal & Akhtar, which can be found here.
Evaluation of word recognition following typing produced through facilitated communication – Article published by Henry Roane, Heather Kadey, and William Sullivan
Peer Review Gone Awry
The peer review process is by no means perfect, and when it comes to facilitated communication, even very reputable journals can allow pseudoscience to be promoted and legitimized.
An Adventure in Peer Review – In an article for Skeptical Inquirer, Stuart Vyse responds to the above peer-reviewed article and discusses how peer review has failed to prevent pseudoscience (e.g., facilitated communication) from reaching mainstream audiences
Journalism and Media Gone Awry
Unfortunately, many journalists and media specialists have not done their due-diligence to understand facilitated communication and the lack of research supporting it. Instead, journalists have sensationalized facilitated communication and passed it off as a miracle cure. Or, journalists pass facilitated communication off as “controversial” and present both sides, as if there are two sides to present. The following articles serve as examples of how uninformed journalism can spread false information about facilitated communication.
Boy Starts Inspirational Blog After Years of Silence
Is Shakira Really Communicating?
Facilitated Communication and Autism
Non-speaking Man with Autism Co-produces Film to Promote Inclusion
Sesame Street and Autism – see 1:05 where Rapid Prompting Method is used
Proponents of Facilitated Communication Defend Midwest Summer Institute
Judicial Oversight Gone Awry
Court May Consider Facilitated Communication – An Indiana court ruled to allow an individual to use facilitated communication as testimony, despite the overwhelming evidence that suggests it is the facilitator, not the individual, who is communicating.
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