MovieChat Forums > Autism: The Musical (2007) Discussion > Facilitated communication

Facilitated communication

posted 11 years ago by dido010
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I was really shocked that a couple of kids in the documentary were using facilitated communication, where another person holds a keyboard and the child's hand and helps them to type. It has been proven that in almost every case, the words formed are the facilitators, and not the intended speaker's. I hope people research this before using it! The things that these kids are typing sound great, and it is so hard to know that it probably isn't them saying these really profound things (Neil saying he was going to put his mom on the spot, that she needed to be a better listener), but in reality these aren't his words. He seems to have great receptive language, and be really bright, he would probably do well with signs or PECs! Please research FC before using it!!

[–] RockaDee_Requited 9 years ago

It can be a good start.

My brother started therapy with a FC when he was about two, and now communicates basic thoughts/actions/requests through his iPad.

He hasn't learn how to spell or read yet (he is six) but can communicate via sign language (which we use frequently since his 10-year-old sister was legally deaf till she was three). He is also working on picture exchange communication using his iPad and eventually will probably be able to communicate through a keyboard like Lexi. We know he can understand a lot, and it's frustrating because we don't know how aware he is and if he's "trapped" like you see some autistic children are.

If you see a lot of typos, I probably wrote this^ on my iPad