Prisoners of Silence 25 Years Later: A look at the impacts of critical reporting on facilitated communication
Biographical Sketch
Kathryn L. Haughney is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the Department of Elementary and Special Education at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Haughney has over 15 years of experience, either teaching, conducting research, or advocating for students with complex communication needs and their families. Having recently earned her doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, her areas of expertise include augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), assistive technology (AT), general curriculum access, applied behavior analysis, meeting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners and learners with the most severe disabilities.
Type of Presentation
Individual presentation
Brief Description of Presentation
The evidence for the presence of facilitator control was described as overwhelming and yet, facilitated communication methods persists across the globe. Intertwined with the issue of presumed competence for communicators with complex communication needs, subsequent discussions have sought to progress from the initial debate with limited progress. Essential in the discussion is the need to respect the authorship of communicators while freeing them of the risk of having others “speak for them”.
Abstract of Proposal
In 1993, Frontline produced a special report on a purported breakthrough in expressive communication for individuals with Autism called Facilitated Communication (FC). The impacts of this report were immediate, simultaneously introducing and immediately disproving the method to the public. Sparking fierce debate, the report around the conclusions that the method was abusive to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users and their facilitators. Despite years of repeated empirical experimental evidence demonstrating the dangers of this practice, its use has persisted and is still supported in some corners of the academic community. The echoes of the initial critical reporting still ring in current debates. The presenter will explore the issue through this historical context, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the critical reporting in moving the discussion forward. Implications for educating the public will be discussed.
Location
Session 4B (Summit, Double Tree)
Start Date
2-23-2019 8:30 AM
End Date
2-23-2019 10:00 AM
Recommended Citation
Haughney, Kathryn L., "Prisoners of Silence 25 Years Later: A look at the impacts of critical reporting on facilitated communication" (2019). International Critical Media Literacy Conference. 28.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/criticalmedialiteracy/2019/2019/28
Prisoners of Silence 25 Years Later: A look at the impacts of critical reporting on facilitated communication
Session 4B (Summit, Double Tree)
In 1993, Frontline produced a special report on a purported breakthrough in expressive communication for individuals with Autism called Facilitated Communication (FC). The impacts of this report were immediate, simultaneously introducing and immediately disproving the method to the public. Sparking fierce debate, the report around the conclusions that the method was abusive to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) users and their facilitators. Despite years of repeated empirical experimental evidence demonstrating the dangers of this practice, its use has persisted and is still supported in some corners of the academic community. The echoes of the initial critical reporting still ring in current debates. The presenter will explore the issue through this historical context, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the critical reporting in moving the discussion forward. Implications for educating the public will be discussed.
