The Trauma-Informed SLP

Facilitated Communication, Ethics, and Harm: An Ethical Deep Dive (part 2 of Former Facilitator Interview)

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In this episode, Janyce and Kim continue their conversation about the old and new forms of facilitated communication (e.g., letterboards, spelling-to-communicate, rapid prompting method) and telepathy claims in non-speaking autistic people.

Together we unpack how subtle cueing, ideomotor effects, and sleight-of-hand style dynamics can create the powerful illusion of independent communication—even for well-intentioned, reflective professionals and parents. They also explore false abuse allegations, high-control group tactics around FC, what real authorship testing looks like, and why independent AAC access and consent, autonomy, and presuming competence have to stay at the center of ethical practice.

We also discuss critical differences in how training SLPs use certain terminology (e.g., independent, neurodiversity-affirming) vs. how facilitators are co-opting the terms and redefining them.

This episode is geared toward speech-language pathologists, OTs, educators, psychologists, and caregivers of non-speaking children and adults who want to stay trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, and evidence-based while avoiding practices that can unintentionally cause serious harm.

FIND AND CONTACT JANYCE HERE: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/ 

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Janyce's References:

  • Four in the Bedroom: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/four-in-the-bedroom-lamentations-or-exploitation-of-non-speaking-individuals
  • Abdication Patterns in Individuals Being Facilitated:: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/abdication-patterns-in-fced-individuals-a-review-of-bebko-perry-and-bryson-1996
  • James Randi (Magician/Skeptic): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/a-magician-cannot-dispute-fc-or-can-he
  • Types of Facilitator Behaviors (Across FC/S2C/RPM): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/an-fc-primer
  • Discouraging Speech in S2C: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/an-inside-look-at-s2c-we-actually-discourage-them-from-using-their-speech-while-they-are-spelling
  • ABA vs. FC (in terms of cueing): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/aba-vs-fc-what-aba-knows-about-autism-instructional-needs-and-the-harmful-effects-of-inadvertent-cues
  • Tracy Kedar (mother/facilitator/author of "Ido in Autismland") having an awareness that physical touch was drawing criticism from school personnel, so she "developed" a form of FC that didn't rely as much on physical touch: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/clever-hands-skepticism-and-ido-in-autismland
  • Critiques of FC Movies (including "The Reason I Jump"): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/movies
  • Critiques of the Telepathy Tapes: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/podcasts
  • Claims of superhuman powers by the Telepathy Tapes folks (including seeing and diagnosing medical conditions in other people): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/review-of-joe-rogans-interview-with-telepathy-tapes-host-ky-dickens-the-stuff-of-conspiracy-theories-fantasy-and-urban-legends-part-4
  • Support for FC/Telepathy in the early 1990s by Donnellan and Haskew of the University of Wisconsin: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/haskew-and-donnellans-bizarre-take-on-fc
  • A cost analysis of RPM (it's expensive!): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/rpm-and-dirfloortime-at-what-cost
  • Portia Iversen's book "Strange Son" that recounts Soma Mukhopadyay's story and the introduction of RPM into the U.S. (Also, I don't think I mentioned it, but Soma failed two impromptu authorship tests) https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/truth-will-out-review-of-portia-iversens-strange-son
  • https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/strange-science-in-iversens-book-strange-son
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    The Trauma-Informed SLPBy Kim Neely, CCC-SLP