Organization: Peirce Software
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Date:         Tue, 6 Oct 1992 07:48:49 PST
Reply-To:     "(Michael Peirce)" <ForDavid@outpost.sf-bay.org>
              <AUTISM@SJUVM.BITNET>
From:         "(Michael Peirce)" <ForDavid@OUTPOST.SF-BAY.ORG>
Subject:      Re: Facilitated Communication Question

In Regards to your letter <9210030435.AA08657@talcott.harvard.edu>:
> Ray,
>
> As you know, I know little about the process of facilitation - all I really
> know about is what 'being autistic means' and I've had a reasonable amount
> of success in raising autistic children and dealing with their problems along
> the way...... some I must admit I've had more success with than others. My
> opinions on FC are based on my intimate knowledge of how autistic people
> react in certain situations and their peculiar language problems. I think I
> really need to know what is involved in FC, before I say anymore. Currently
> it appears that there are certain people trained(?) to do the facilitating.
> Is that correct? Is there any reason why the person facialitating the child
> couldn't be someone who already has the child's confidence and who the child
> already feels relaxed with? Is the facilitation equipment so expensive that
> it is only viable in an educational setting? Is the keyboard much different
> from standard keyboards? Does the child have to know how to read before it can
> be used? If so, what methods are being used to teach the child to read before
> facilitation is tried? How do they test a non-verbal child's ability to read
> and/or comprehend?

I'm no expert, but I can share my experiences with David, my seven
year old autistic step-son.

David facilitates with most of the people around him.  We began with
his Mom and myself acting as facilitators.  He now facilitates with his
teacher, school aids, school speach therapist, sister, father, and
some of the aids at his day care (it's a special day care for autistic
children).

He does better with some more than others.  He's very good with his
speach therapist.  They have long conversations.  He seems to do fairly
poorly with his Mom, we think that's because they had already worked
a somewhat working communication system before that he's comfortable
with (basically he directs her with his hand).

David was and is totally non-verbal.  I'm told he had maybe a dozen
words when he was small, then they slowly faded (this was before I
came on the scene).  He has told me, via FC, that he would like to
"talk with his voice", but he can't.

His teacher, his Mom and I, went to a seminar put on by the Adriana(?)
foundation last spring in Alameda, California.  His teacher had heard
about it and told us about it.  So we had "some training."  When someone
new starts using FC with David, we ask him if it is OK for them to
try it and we show them how it works.  This takes the form of facilitating
with them and stress the fact that they are not to guide his hand.
It takes practice and time to believe it's his doing the typing and
not us.

It seems each person I've observed has to go through a validation
themselves.  His teacher got really excited when David told her some
things she didn't know and they were corroborated by us later.

His whole behavior has changed after using FC.  He still stims alot,
but he act much more connected.  He will asked us to go play with
him and request other things I didn't know he wanted.  For example,
we got home a few weeks ago and he was acting cranky.  I asked him
if there was anything he wanted to say and he typed "I think you need
to turn on the air conditioner".  We turned it on (it *was* rather warm)
and no more fussing.

Today, I asked him if he wanted to go ride his bike and he replied
"no I want to play in the yard".  I said sure, and he took off for
the back yard without further prompting.

As to the keyboard that he uses.  He uses both paper boards and a computer.
The paper boards are simply a keyboard printed on regular paper.
We keep a few of these around the house for easy access.  We also
use a Macintosh PowerBook 100.  We do this mainly so that we have
a record of what he types.  He doesn't seem to prefer one over the
other and works well with both.  I find the computer a tad easier
when he types long sentences since I can refer back to the entire
message.

David seems to know how to read all by himself.  I really can't explain
how, except to say that there *are* words all around us.  His teacher
started him on a computer based reading program and he was board with
the first levels and amazed us with what he could do.

At his school (McKinnen school in Santa Clara County is a special
ed school with a number of classes just for autistic children).  They
are trying FC with all the autistic children.  Some picked it up right
away.  Others still don't do it, but the number using FC to some degree
or another is rapidly rising.

I can understand some people's hesitation on the testing side.  My
wife has seen David put through a series of tests over time (his natural
father seems to like them) and it always upsets her to see the result
the tests have on him.  David has always been upset after them.
I witnessed a test last year at Stanford where David was given some
sort of intelligence test to evaluate him and his progress.  They
didn't try to upset him, but he was upset never the less.  It took
a few days for him to settle down.  (By the way, they told us he was
at two year old level - this from a boy who reads and can do elementary
math problems less than a year later - they clearly didn't know *how*
to really measure his intelligence!).

So, we'd be really hesitent to subject David to any type of exhaustive
testing unless the testers *really* convinced us that it wouldn't
bother him.  He's not a lab rat, his a sensitive little boy.

A parting note:  David was with his speach therapist at school two
weeks ago.  There was an observer there (learning about FC).  She
asked the therapist what it was like for the kids to use FC.  The
therapist said lets ask David and he spelled out "I don't fell autistic
when I facilitate".  Wow.

--  Michael Peirce      --   peirce@outpost.SF-Bay.org
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