An Examination of the Role of the Facilitator in "Facilitated Communication"

Facilitated communication (FC) is an expressive communication strategy that involves the selection of targets on a letter display or keyboard by an individual who receives some physical support, typically from another person (known as the facilitator). Because physical assistance is needed for communication to occur, the question has arisen as to whether the facilitator or the individual who is facilitated is responsible for authoring messages. This investigation was initiated to determine whether messages expressed via FC by a 38-year-old man who was nonspeaking and mentally retarded were produced by this individual or by his facilitator. In order to investigate the source of communication, three procedures were designed, two of a visual and one of an auditory nature. Results revealed that the source of the communication in this context was, without exception, the facilitator. These findings suggest the importance of determining the source of communication expressed through facilitated communication.

Note:

D. Jeffery Higginbotham served as the Associate Editor for the review of this article.

Key Words: facilitated communication

Submitted on January 8, 1993
Accepted on March 15, 1994

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