Time magazine’s May 15, 2006 cover story “Inside the Autistic Mind” by Claudia Wallis irresponsibly paints facilitated communication (FC), a method that purports to allow non-verbal individuals to communicate, in a favorable light. During FC, a “facilitator” helps guide the hand of the non-verbal individual across a communication board. Proponents argue that this has allowed a number of individuals, many of them diagnosed with autism, to communicate their thoughts and feelings. In every single peer-reviewed empirical study to date, however, it has been shown that when the facilitator is kept “blind” about a request or question being asked of the non-verbal individual, the response made on the communication device bears little or no resemblance to the initial question or request. It is not surprising that a number of respected professional organizations, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1993), American Psychological Association (1994), the American Academy of Pediatrics (1998), the American Association of Mental Retardation (1994), the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (1995), the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Association of Behavior Analysis (1995) and others have characterized FC as undemonstrated, have warned consumers not to use this procedure, or have refused to endorse it. As author Claudia Wallis mentions in another article in this issue, parents of children with autism “enter a dizzying world of specialists, therapists and, alas, purveyors of snake oil” with regards to effective treatment. It is a shame that Time magazine itself contributes to this problem.
Sincerely,
Sharon A. Reeve, PhD, BCBA
Vice President of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment (www.asatonline.org)
Guidelines for Submissions to the ASAT Forum
There are a number of internet forums that enable members of the public, both parents and professionals, to share their experiences surrounding the diagnosis, treatment and ongoing progress of a child with autism. The ASAT forum is another such venue; however, this forum will host contributions that reflect ASAT’s mission and guiding values:
ASAT’s mission:
“to disseminate accurate, scientifically sound information about autism and treatments for autism and to improve access to effective, science-based treatments for all people with autism, regardless of age, severity of condition, income or place of residence.”
ASAT’s guiding values:
“ASAT is committed to science as the most objective, time-tested and reliable approach to discerning between safe, effective autism treatments, and those that are harmful or ineffective. ASAT supports all scientifically sound research on the prevention, treatment and cure of autism, as well as all treatments for autism that are shown to be effective through solid scientific research, regardless of discipline or domain.”
Please note, however that the material selected to be placed on the forum represents the views of the individual authors of each selection, and does not necessarily represent a formal position taken by the Board of ASAT
