Some government programs implementing or supporting facilitated communication (not a comprehensive list)

Here is a brief list of some government programs or government-funded programs that are implementing or supporting facilitated communication training around the world (not a comprehensive list): 

State of Massachusetts, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  Facilitated Communication is included in the Guidelines for Preparation of Teachers of Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities: "Approved programs should ensure that teachers of students with moderate or severe disabilities: 1. understand educational, communication and professional terminology and concepts related to augmentative and alternative communication and assistive technologies; 2. are familiar with the range of AAC devices and methodologies as defined in 603 CMR 7.02, and facilitated communication, that can be used to effectively teach students. Some examples of ACC devices and methodologies include: Communication Aids--Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)...Dynamic displays...Auditory Scanning...Facilitated communication..."

http://www.massadvocates.org/documents/DESEAACGuidelines.pdf

Programa de Habilitación del Lenguaje a través de la Escritura en Autismo y otros Trastornos Severos del Desarrollo.  This program is now an Extension Program at the School of Psychology of the University of Buenos Aires, and as such has undergone stringent reviews.  Below is the link. 

Director: Lic. Daniel Orlievsky (who has published widely in Spanish language journals on his research on facilitated communication)

http://www.psi.uba.ar/extension.php?var=extension/programas/orlievsky.php

Italy has four accredited FC centers:  the Centro Studi e Ricerca in Neuroriabilitazione CNAPP in Rome, the Centro Studi sulla Comunicazione Facilitata – W.O.C.E. in Zoagli (GE), the Instituto M.P.P. Padri Trinitari A. Quarto di Palo in Andria (BA), and the Centro Sperimentale per i Disturbi dello Sviluppo e della Comunicazione in Padua.  These are noted in the chapter “Statistical Analysis of Textual Data from Corpora of Written Communication—New Results from an Italian Interdisciplinary Research Program (EASIEST) by Lorenzo Bernardi and Arjuna Tuzzi, University of Padua, Italy, in the book A Comprehensive Book on Autism Spectrum Disorders,in the Acknowledgements on page 429. 

Vermont Communication Task Force

http://ddas.vermont.gov/ddas-boards/boards-dds/boards-dds-vctf/

Research Articles on Facilitated Communication focusing on authorship and other issues

There are numerous research articles which demonstrate the value of facilitated communication(FC) training methods or supported typing for at least some individuals.  In some of these, individuals who type with support have had success in demonstrating that they themselves were the authors of what was typed.  In other research, individuals who use FC training have demonstrated literacy and increased speech.  These articles and many personal reports of individuals and families are not always noted in research reviews or discussions of facilitated communication.  

For your easy reference, we have listed below articles which show the value of FC for some individuals.  In these, individuals have been successful in passing information that is unknown to their facilitator, i.e. have demonstrated authorship, or have demonstrated other gains due to FC training.  The first list includes a few qualitative studies and articles on literacy and other gains.  The second list has qualitative and quantitative research studies published in English, and the third list has research articles published in Spanish (with no translation available to date).  

Research Studies and Other Articles on Facilitated Communication (FC) and Related Issues, including qualitative studies that involve speech, literacy, and evidence. 

Note:  This is not an exhaustive list, but it provides some good examples.

Christine Ashby (2011) Whose "Voice" Is It Anyway?: Giving Voice And Qualitative Research Involving Individuals That Type To Communicate.  Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol. 31, No 4.

Rosemary Crossley and Chris Borthwick What constitutes evidence?  Why the debate about facilitated communication is important for ISAAC.  Paper written for the proceedings of the Seventh Biennial ISAAC Research Symposium, Odense, Denmark, August 2002. 

Christi Kasa-Hendrickson, Alicia A. Broderick, and Darlene Hanson (2009)

Sorting out Speech: Understanding Multiple Methods of Communication

for Persons with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities.  The Journal of Developmental Processes, Vol. 4(2), pp. 116-133.   

Marjorie F. Olney (2001)  Evidence of literacy in individuals labeled with mental retardation.  Disability Studies Quarterly:  Spring 2001, Vol. 21, No. 2. 

Zachary Rossetti, Christine Ashby, Katrina Arndt, Marilyn Chadwick, Maho Kasahara, and John O'Brien (2008) “I Like Others to Not Try to Fix Me”: Agency, Independence, and Autism. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: October 2008, Vol. 46, No. 5, pp. 364-375.

Research Articles on Facilitated Communication focusing on authorship and showing evidence of authorship 

English Language Research Articles

Bernardi, L. & Tuzzi, A. (2011) Analyzing written communication in AAC contexts: a statistical perspective. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 27 (3), 183-194.

Bernardi, L. & Tuzzi, A. (2011) Statistical Analysis of Textual Data from Corpora of Written Communication – New Results from an Italian Interdisciplinary Research Program (EASIEST). In Mohammad-Reza Mohammadi (Ed.), A Comprehensive Book on Autism Spectrum Disorders (pp. 413-434)  InTech. 

Cardinal, D. N., Hanson, D. & Wakeham, J.  (1996) Investigation of authorship in facilitated communication. Mental Retardation, 34, 231-242. 

Emerson, A., Grayson, A. & Griffiths, A. (2011) Can’t or won’t? Evidence relating to authorship in facilitated communication.  International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 15 (3), 1-16. 

Grayson, A., Emerson, A., Howard-Jones, P. & O’Neil, L. (2011) Hidden communicative competence: Case study evidence using eye-tracking and video analysis.  Autism, 15(3), 1-16. 

Janzen-Wilde, M., Ducham, L. & Felson, J. (1996) Successful use of facilitated communication with an oral child. Journal of Speech & Hearing Research, 38 (3), 658-676. 

Niemi, J. & Ka”rna”-Lin, E. (2002) Grammar and lexicon in facilitated communication: A linguistic authorship analysis in a Finnish case. Mental Retardation, 40 (5), 347-357. 

Ogletree, B. T. & Hamtil, A.  (1993) Facilitated Communication: A Naturalistic Validation Method.  Focus on Autistic Behavior, 8 (4), 1-10.  

Sheehan, C. M. & Matuozzi, R. T.  (1996) Investigation of the validity of facilitated communication through the disclosure of unknown information. Mental Retardation, 34, 94-107. 

Tuzzi, A. (2009) Grammar and lexicon in individuals with autism: A quantitative analysis of a large Italian corpus. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 47 (5), 373-385. 

Weiss, M. J. S., Wagner, S. H. & Bauman, M. L. (1996) A validated case study of facilitated communication. Mental Retardation, 34, 220-230.