Background: Accurate and meaningful assessment of language and communication skills to monitor child progress is the cornerstone to appropriate intervention for children with complex communication needs (CCN; Brady et al., 2016; Rowland et al., 2012). Despite this need, there is a lack of high quality and validated measurement of young children…

Between 30 and 50% of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) do not develop vocal language deemed functionally acceptable to meet their daily communication needs. As a result, individuals with ASD may require intervention alternatives to vocal speech, such as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). However, very little is known…

Although positive peer relationships can facilitate the academic learning, skill development, and emotional well-being of students with complex communication challenges, few peer interactions are likely to take place in school settings apart from intentional intervention and support efforts. We conducted a systematic review to identify and examine…

Despite expansive improvements in both treatments and research, the majority of persons with autism use non-empirically supported interventions. One way to decrease the research-to-practice gap involves increasing the direct applicability of research findings to clinical settings. Effectiveness research achieves this goal by identifying treatments…

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) 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 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 paper examines the use of facilitated communication (FC) with individuals having communication disorders, in the context of the research on literacy development and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methodologies. (Author/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…

This paper examines the evidence on whether facilitated communication (FC) enables people with disabilities to demonstrate unexpected skills, considering the efficacy of FC (including both objective and descriptive evidence), other research questions, theoretical issues, ethics, and acrimony. It concludes that the benefits of the practice have not…

Facilitated communication (FC) as an augmentative or alternative communication system was evaluated with 14 students having autism. At the end of 10 weeks of instruction, no participants were able to produce functional, typed communication, thereby failing to support the cause-effect relationship proposed by FC proponents. (DB)

A 6-year-old child's oral and spelled utterances were compared over a 3-month period as he was trained to use facilitated communication (FC). The child's language with FC was significantly better than his oral language. Evidence that he was authoring his own messages included his eventual ability to type messages without physical support.…

This study of an adolescent with multiple disabilities, including moderate mental retardation, who was reported to engage in validated facilitated communication (FC) found he did not engage in validated FC; performance was equivalent whether food or nonfood reinforcers were used; and the Picture Exchange Communication System was a valid and…