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List of abuse allegations made through facilitated communication

There have been instances in which a person, through facilitated communication (FC)—a scientifically discredited technique[1] that attempts to aid communication by people with autism or other communication disabilities who are non-verbal—seems to disclose experiences of abuse.[2] Often, the alleged abuse is sexual and contains "extensive, explicit, pornographic details".[3][4] While facilitators are taught to expect their communication partners to reveal sensitive, personal issues,[5] researchers find that facilitators involved in this type of case mistakenly suspect abuse by family members or others.[6][7]

In 1993, Frontline's "Prisoners of Silence" featured the story of Gerry Gherardi of New Hampshire, who was accused, through FC-generated messages, of sexually abusing his son. Despite protestations of innocence, Gherardi was forced to stay away from his home for six months.[8] The charges were dropped when court-ordered double-blind tests showed that Gherardi's son could not write.[9] In the same year, Bernard Rimland reported in a New York Times article that he knew of about 25 cases where families were accused through facilitated communication of sexually abusing their children.[10]

By 1995, there were sixty known cases,[7][11] with untold numbers of others settled without reaching public visibility. Since then, the number of cases continues to increase. In addition to accusations of sexual abuse, facilitators, reportedly, have developed sexual feelings for their communication partners and, relying on FC for consent, initiated sexual, physical contact with people in their care,[12][13] raising serious ethical and legal problems for facilitators, protective service agencies, law enforcement, court officials, educators, and family members alike.[14]

  1. ^ Vyse, Stuart (7 August 2018). "Autism Wars: Science Strikes Back". Skeptical Inquirer Online. Skeptical Inquirer. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  2. ^ Spake, Amanda (31 May 1992). "Skeptics and Believers; The Facilitated Communication Debate". The Washington Post. p. W22. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  3. ^ Green, Gina (1994). "Mental Miracle or Sleight of Hand?". Skeptic. 2 (3): 68–76.
  4. ^ Shane, Howard C., ed. (1994). Facilitated Communication: The Clinical and Social Phenomenon. Singular Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-565-93341-5.
  5. ^ Green, Gina (Fall 1995). "An ecobehavioral interpretation of the facilitated communication phenomenon". Psychology in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. 21 (2): 1–8.
  6. ^ Hall, Genae A. (1993). "Facilitator control as automatic behavior: a verbal analysis". The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. 11 (1): 89–97. doi:10.1007/bf03392890. PMC 2748555. PMID 22477083.
  7. ^ a b Lilienfeld, Scott O. (March 2007). "Psychological Treatments that Cause Harm". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2 (1): 53–70. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.531.9405. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00029.x. PMID 26151919. S2CID 26512757.
  8. ^ Palfreman, Jon (October 19, 1993). "Frontline: Prisoners of Silence". PBS.org. WGBH Educational Foundation. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  9. ^ Koehler, Robert (19 October 1993). "TV Review 'Prisoners' Puts Autism Technique to the Test". Los Angeles Times (Home ed.). p. 9.
  10. ^ Goldman, Daniel (July 13, 1993). "New Treatments for Autism Arouse Hope and Skepticism". The New York Times. No. Late Edition. p. C.1. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  11. ^ Margolin, K.N. (1994). "How Shall Facilitated Communication be Judged? Facilitated Communication and the Legal System". In Shane, Howard C. (ed.). Facilitated Communication: The Clinical and Social Phenomenon. San Diego: Singular Publishing. pp. 227–257. ISBN 978-1-565-93341-5.
  12. ^ Lilienfeld, Scott O.; Marshall, Julia; Todd, James T.; Shane, Howard C. (2 February 2015). "The persistence of fad interventions in the face of negative scientific evidence: Facilitated Communication for autism as a case example". Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention. 8 (2): 62–101. doi:10.1080/17489539.2014.976332. S2CID 145366255.
  13. ^ Sundstrom, Kathy (October 17, 2014). "Carer: "I fell in love": Grandma guilty of indecent dealing". Sunshine Coast Daily. Queensland, Australia. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  14. ^ Todd, James T. (13 July 2012). "The moral obligation to be empirical: Comments on Boynton's "Facilitated Communication – what harm it can do: Confessions of a former facilitator."". Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention. 6 (1): 36–57. doi:10.1080/17489539.2012.704738. S2CID 143043194. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
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