In this brief response to Agran et al., I provide data on the extent to which students with the most significant cognitive disabilities (i.e., those students participating in alternate assessments on alternate achievement standards) are separated educationally from their peers without disabilities. I further discuss additional factors that may be…

Kristin and Jon Erickson know that communication and collaboration are key to success. As the parents of Karly, a child with special needs, the Ericksons experienced first-hand the trials and tribulations that go along with managing the care of a person with disabilities. They found themselves frustrated by a lack of available tools for parents…

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), including speech generating devices (SGDs), offer people with complex communication needs the potential for improved communication and participation in society. Despite rapid and ongoing development in AAC technology, its potential is not being fully realised. The number of people with complex…

Volunteering is a common activity amongst adults without disability, resulting in benefits for individuals, organisations, and societies at large. In an attempt to increase community participation, people with lifelong disability who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems (e.g., speech generating devices or communication…

This examination of the risks and benefits of using facilitated communication with individuals having autism or mental retardation concludes that the risks to these individuals, to families and teachers, and to society of this unsupported methodology are great and that the development of independent augmentative communication strategies is more…

Four commentaries on Levine et al. (EC 609 255) include "Negotiating the Facilitated Communication Maze" (Dianne Ferguson and Robert Horner); "Defining Facilitated Communication in and out of Existence: Role of Science in the Facilitated Communication Controversy" (David Goode); "A Dispassionate (If That's Possible)…

This response by the original authors (EC 609 255) to four commentaries (EC 609 256) notes the agreement of all that "authorship" is a major issue in facilitated communication and restates their contention that use of facilitated communication can cause considerable harm. They urge the use of augmentative communication techniques for…

This response to Green and Shane (EC 609 759) and Biklen and Duchan (EC 609 760), which presented opposing views of facilitated communication (FC) with people having severe disabilities, focuses on alternative meanings of the controversy itself. It concludes that the controversy shows the need to resolve the conflict between systematic inquiry and…

This response to Green and Shane (EC 609 759) and Biklen and Duchan (EC 609 760) on facilitated communication (FC) with people having severe disabilities addresses the importance of evaluating FC from a variety of research traditions; of focusing on the practical issues of families, teachers, and clinicians; and of solving the issue of authorship.…

This response to Green and Shane (EC 609 759) and Biklen and Duchan (EC 609 760), which presented opposing views of facilitated communication (FC) with people having severe disabilities, focuses on science as viewed through positivist and constructivist lenses. The paper uses Biklen and Duchan's social constructivist approach to identify three…

This discussion of facilitated communication (FC) focuses on implications of conflicting views of retardation, science, and truth. Discussion supports FC and considers the normative view and the competence view of individuals with mental retardation, positivist and experiential approaches to research in mental retardation, and responses to…

This article notes the dilemma faced by facilitated communication (FC) practitioners who must choose between denying their client effective and efficient communication or use an approach that has not held up under controlled scientific studies. It notes that FC descriptions that focus on social participation are more positive than those that focus…

This response to Green and Shane (EC 609 759) and Biklen and Duchan (EC 609 760), which presented opposing views of facilitated communication (FC) with people having severe disabilities, is by an author who is herself autistic. It concludes that both the critics and proponents of FC are wrong because of testing problems associated with self-other…

This introductory article to a special issue on the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for persons with autism briefly reviews the history of AAC with this population, summarizes issues identified in the following articles, and notes questions that remain unanswered. (Contains references.) (DB)

The controversy regarding the use of facilitated communication with individuals having developmental disabilities is addressed, and an oversight procedure for the use of this methodology is recommended, which includes informed consent from all involved, the inclusion of a validation protocol, and the inclusion of other potential means of…