"Facilitated communication is an alternative means of expression for people who cannot speak, or whose speech is highly limited (e.g. echoed, limited to one or a few word utterances), and who cannot point reliably. The method has been used as a means to communicate for individuals with severe disabilities, including persons with labels of mental retardation, autism, Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities." The Facilitated Communication Institute at Syracuse University (http://soeweb.syr.edu/thefci/) Facilitated Communication reached a peak of popularity in the early 1990s, when it appeared to many to provide a new technique for communicating with those suffering from various developmental disabilities, including these listed above. It was strongly embraced by many parents of disabled children, who saw in it the assurance that their children were capable of more than had previously been thought.
As the number of FC practitioners increased, it became clear that their were problems. There was no common certification for practitioners, and no way of testing whether the practitioners were indeed communicating the beliefs or desires of their subjects, but their own, and the desires of various interested parties. Allegations of sexual abuse became common, often in the context of child custody or parental rights battles, with FC practitioners apparantly mirroring the desires of interested parties.
Once controlled clinical studies began to examine FC, it became increasingly clear that practitioners of FC were not communicating the thoughts of the subjects, but their own thought and desires. Today, very few researchers accept the premises of Facilitated Communication.
