In the spring of 1992, during a visit to Florida, I had the opportunity to watch a video which originated at Syracuse University.  A strange communication technique was shown in the video which they called Facilitated Communication.  The moment I saw it, I immediately realized the implications suggested by the technique described in the video.  I am the mother of Alberto, an autistic boy who at that time was 14 years old.  At last all my unexpressed intuitions about what was actually going on in my son's head could possibly be demonstrated.

 I got in touch with Professor Biklen at Syracuse University, and he sent me a nice letter giving a basic description of how I could get started.  At that time I reckon we all felt like pioneers, and certainly FC was not yet a 'method'.  People were just trying to support a hand or a wrist, see what happened and take notes.  But, I had a wonderful teacher in my son Alberto and he gradually gave me all the suggestions needed to construct a method for himself and, later, for other persons like him.  I must admit that I was totally unprepared to explore his disclosing mind; we both learned from each other day by day.

 From him came a request to make him describe pictures every time he felt difficulties of expression, or, as a next step, to 'manipulate' a picture and make him use both his fantasy and logic to construct answers.  Alberto has never been a practical person; he is more likely to watch people do things instead of doing them himself.  From the requests he was making, I realized that communication could be useful in  understanding his practical difficulties, and in helping him overcome them in everyday life.

 At that time, my only connection with Syracuse University was their Facilitated Communication Digest, which I eagerly read the moment it arrived.  We were alone in Italy, facing all the incredulity and the disbelief around us.  Probably because of the fact that we are stubborn persons, mother and child, we did not give up.  My son apaprently appreciated my total confidence in his newly discovered capabilities, and we gradually worked towards independence and the introduction of other facilitators to show people (even my own family) that I was not merely a visionary.

 When it was clear to me that influence and cue-seeking were part of the game, Alberto and I simply talked about it.  We agreed that the phenomenon was never out of our control and that we could master it.  Alberto 'invented' some tricks to overcome this problem.  We were not aware of all the international fuss about influence, therefore, we simply worked on the problem and got over it.  Alberto continuously validated his communication through message passing during quiet conversations.

I quickly came to understand that proofs of authorship do not come out of stupid questions like "What did you have for lunch at school?" or "What are the names of your school mates?" Alberto's interest in homeopathy, for example, was an issue totally unexpected by me.  I was and still am ignorant on this subject.  He asked to read books on homeopathy by himself, which means that he scans a page in a few seconds while I only hold the book in front of him and turn the page when he pushes the book away; he also asked to practice with a homeopath once a week.  He is brilliant in homeopathy and this is what he wants to do in the future.

It was clear to me that I had a great instrument in my hands and a moral problem as well: what to do with it?  Keep it to myself or give it to others; and, in this latter case, under which conditions?  To me FC is a razor with two edges: the use of FC has to be encouraged but only if you can control it.  There is always the possibility of misuse, and I did not want to raise controversy, at least not at this early stage.

 I am a member of the Italian Autism Society (now I am also on the Board of Directors).  I decided to write a tactical letter to be published in our Digest, describing the results I had obtained with FC.  As expected, parents started to write and telephone, and to come to my house to see and learn.  I began to assess persons with disabilities for the use of FC, while people from the Autism Society organized small conferences to learn about the technique.  But it made sense to me to go only if Alberto agreed to accompany me and demonstrate.  He only required shoulder support by that time, and seeing him on a stage answering short questions really made the difference.

Alberto's behavior was a surprise to me.  Though continuously stressed by trains, planes, hotels, restaurants and the audience, he always behaved much better than at home.  I fully understood the importance of motivation in a person's life and the role it can play in behavior.  I remember scandalized people pitying him for "being obliged to perform," and others criticizing me behind my back.  They simply did not know that he was proud of, and motivated by, this new aspect of his life.

 A small group of professionals working in private or public organizations took interest in this "movement," and they too organized conferences with Alberto and me.  The "Italian experience" had started, and I felt I had to organize it more professionally for the sake of the 30 to 40 facilitated speakers we had at that time.

 With the help of a psychomotor therapist, and by translating the little material I had received from Syracuse University and gathering the papers Alberto had written in two years, I prepared overheads about dyspraxia, neuromotor disturbances and gradual steps in introducing facilitation to a new person.  Then I invited Professor Biklen to lecture in Italy.  The following year Donna Williams came with all her material, and my initial overheads became more and more professionally organized into a method.

 However, problems were taking shape as well:  Parents could not be left alone.  They needed constant support and monitoring. (Some parents are overwhelmed by the fact that their child can communicate, and cannot cope with the stress.  Others are paralyzed in front of an empty sheet of paper and do not know what to ask and how to proceed.) Schools and teachers were not prepared for this new approach to autism,  related disabilities and communication impairments.  Teachers often feel helpless when faced with a person with a communication impairment.

My position within the Autism Society gave me the advantage of an official label.  Two years after the famous letter with which I had introduced FC to the world of autism, it was clear to me that I could not continue to tour up and down Italy, and that all the situations I had created needed local support and supervision.  I organized training sessions for a group of professionals who had shown interest in the use of facilitation.  I assessed a number of persons with disabilities who were under the care of these professionals, and we started to work together.  Professor Biklen came back to Italy last September to supervise the work of these supervisors.  There are at present 12 supervision centers in Italy headed by neuropsychiatrists, neurologists, and a couple of pedagogists, with their staff of therapists duly instructed in the application of FC.

The good results which timidly came out of this controlled expansion of Facilitated Communication were appearing in specialized papers and on television.

The last project I had in mind was finalized six months ago: the creation, together with the supervisors, of a "Center for the Study and Research of FC" representing the only official gate of access to Facilitated Communication in Italy.  A letter with our credentials has been sent out to all the involved Local Directors of Education, to the faculties of Educational Sciences, and to public officials.

We have set some rules:

• A person can become a facilitator only if he or she is trained by us and has worked with a person with a disability for at least 8 months with regular supervision.
• There are initial gradual steps to be respected in the application of FC
• Any person with a disability has to be assessed by an expert supervisor prior to commencing his or her regular use of FC.  The supervisor establishes a personalized program for use by families, therapists and teacher.
• We strongly discourage the use of facilitation on the part of psychoanalysts unless there's an open request clearly originating from the facilitated speaker.

This is the best I have been able to do in these four years to protect FC and our children. I wish to express my gratitude to Doug Biklen and the Facilitated Communication Institute of Syracuse University, because they didn't give up despite enormous pressures.  They have taught me how to give back dignity to our children.  But my heart is with all those persons with a disability and their families who had to pave the way for us, amidst disbelief and suffering, through validation tests and continuous requests for proof.  They gave me the strength to go ahead.