Reviews

Review of Maurer: "Facilitated Communication: Can Children with Autism Have a Voice in Court?": Steve Drake

In the last issue of the Digest, I reviewed an article by Luxton (1995) that analyzed the issues regarding facilitated communication in court proceedings. This article reviews an even more comprehensive analysis by Nancy M. Maurer. Maurer opens her article by relating the basics of two well-known abuse cases involving the use of facilitated communication, namely Jenny S. and Luz P. The second section of Maurer's article chronicles the evolution of the professional debate over the "validity" of facilitated communication. read more...

Birger Sellin: I Don't Want to be Inside Me Any More. Review: Annegret Schubert

now i am going to write a song about the joy of speaking a song for mute autistics to sing in institutions and madhouses... I Don't Want To Be Inside Me Anymore is an exquisite expose of Sellin's thinking about himself, about his disability, about loneliness, about the society that surrounds him, and about his quest to educate all of us about autism. Arranged in a diary format, the book begins with his earliest "setwork exercises" in 1990 and shows how he gains his own voice, step by step.> read more...

A Nonconfrontational Assessment of Facilitated Communication Yields Promising Results: A Review of Sheehan and Matuozzi: Chris Kliewer

Sheehan and Matuozzi open their article with a quotation from physics Nobel Laureate Neils Bohr: "How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we can make progress." [...] Facilitated communication has presented the disability disciplines with a paradox. [...] Sheehan and Matuozzi have provided us a framework to further understand the fragility of communication that is facilitated. Their nonconfrontational tactics appear to assist us in focusing on how we support demonstrations of competence in individuals with disabilities rather than questioning the intellect of the person subjected to experimental analysis. read more...

Research Review Botash, et al.: Children Who Have Disclosed Sexual Abuse Via Facilitated Communication: Missy Morton

In the three year period between January 1990 and March 1993, 1096 children were evaluated at the CARE program for suspected sexual abuse [...]. Thirteen of the 1096 children are described as having used facilitated communication to disclose abuse. read more...

Review: Two Microanalyses of Videotaped Interactions Involving Facilitated Communication, by Grayson, et al.: Steve Drake

Grayson and his colleagues are examining the complexities of facilitated communication in ways that are, as far as I know, unique. The research involves analysis of videotapes of communication partners using the method. read more...

Review: Dwyer, Access to Justice for People with Severe Communication Impairment: Steve Drake

Joan Dwyer has written what is undoubtedly the most comprehensive analysis of court cases involving facilitated communication that has appeared to date. Her paper demonstrates that legal outcomes in cases involving facilitated communication have often been the result of misunderstandings, prejudice and even deception. Until fairly recently, people with communication disabilities have not really been given access to the court. read more...