The immediate aim in FCT is to allow the aid user to make choices and to communicate in a way that has been impossible previously. Physical support is provided at the hand or arm, helping the individual to initiate pointing or to point accurately. Over time the support is faded back.
Many individuals now communicate withjust ahand on their shoulder or even independently.
Douglas Biklen of Syracuse University introduced the technique to the United States. Biklen and his graduate students began using FCT in the public schools in the Syracuse in 1990, where it was tried primarily with students with autism. Biklen discovered that most of the children with whom they tried FCT had preexisting, usually previously unidentified, literacy skills. This was consistent with the results Crossley had obtained in Australia where many individuals with labels of profound or severe mental retardation had been able to type words with facilitation. To most untrained observers, FCT appears deceptively simple.