page_title: Facilitated communication
section_title: Claims and evidence
hierarchical_section_title: Facilitated communication / Claims and evidence
caption_attribution_description: English: Sign of the Anne McDonald Centre in Melbourne (formerly the DEAL Communication Centre). Directed by Rosemary Crossley, it is a centre of the controversial 'facilitated communication' treatment supposed to allow disabled people to express their thoughts, hence the slogan: 'a new deal for people with little or no speech'. (FC, where a 'facilitator' holds a disabled person's hand and encourages them to point to letters is considered pseudoscience by many outside experts in disabled care, who argue that it works like an Ouija board: the facilitator pushes and pulls the disabled person's hand towards letters that express coherent meaning, even if they do not realise it.)
context_page_description: Facilitated communication, supported typing, or hand over hand, is a scientifically discredited technique that attempts to aid communication by people with autism or other communication disabilities who are non-verbal. The facilitator guides the disabled person's arm or hand and attempts to help them type on a keyboard or other device.
  There is widespread agreement within the scientific community and among disability advocacy organizations that FC is a pseudoscience. Research indicates that the facilitator is the source of the messages obtained through FC, rather than the disabled person. The facilitator may believe they are not the source of the messages due to the ideomotor effect, which is the same effect that guides a Ouija board. Studies have consistently found that FC is unable to provide the correct response to even simple questions when the facilitator does not know the answers to the questions. In addition, in numerous cases disabled persons have been assumed by facilitators to be typing a coherent message while the patient's eyes were closed or while they were looking away from or showing no particular interest in the letter board.
context_section_description: There is widespread agreement within the scientific community and multiple disability advocacy organizations that FC is not a valid technique for communicating with those with autism spectrum disorder.  Instead, research indicates that the facilitator is the source of the messages obtained through FC (involving ideomotor effect guidance of the arm of the patient by the facilitator). Studies have consistently found that FC is unable to provide the correct response to even simple questions when the facilitator does not know the answers to the questions (e.g., showing the patient but not the facilitator an object). In addition, in numerous cases disabled persons have been assumed by facilitators to be typing a coherent message while the patient's eyes were closed or while they were looking away from or showing no particular interest in the letter board.
caption: The Anne McDonald Centre, a facilitated communication centre in Melbourne, Australia directed by Rosemary Crossley.
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