Biklen, D. (1993). Communication unbound. New York: Teachers College Press. This book includes Biklen's first article on facilitated communication, originally published in the Harvard Educational Review (1990), as well as how-to information about the method and a discussion of how findings from facilitation challenge prevailing understandings of autism and related developmental disabilities.
Biklen, D. & Cardinal, D. (Eds.) (In press) Contested Words, Contested Science. New York: Teachers College Press. A collection of studies (controlled, quantitative ones as well as qualitative investigations) of facilitation, focusing mainly on the authorship question: who is doing the typing, facilitator or the person with the communication impairment. The book includes a chapter by Marcus and Shevin in which Marcus, an fc user, replicates a classic facilitated communication authorship test.
Biklen, D., Saha, N., & Kliewer, C. (1995). How teachers confirm authorship of facilitated communication. Journal of the Association for persons with Severe Handicaps, 20, 45-56. A qualitative examination of the authorship question, examining authorship of all students (17) in several school settings who were using facilitation; the majority of students were found to be communicating their own words, as judged by their teachers on the basis of message passing evidence, independent typing, and a variety of other factors. The authors outline a portfolio approach to evaluating authorship.
Botash, A., Babuts, D., Mitchell, N., O'Hara, M., Manuel, J., Lynch, L. (1994). Evaluations of Children who have disclosed sexual abuse via facilitated communication. Archives of Pediatric Medicine, 148, 1282-1287. A medical team's evaluation of cases in which individuals using facilitation purportedly made allegations of abuse. Several individuals were found to have medical evidence of abuse. The pattern of evidence in this group parallels the patterns seen in the nondisabled, speaking population (who had made allegations of abuse) in the region in which the study was conducted.
Candelora, V.J. (1995). Facilitated communication: A scientific theory or mode of communication? Should people with autism have a voice in court. Dickinson Law Review, 99 (3), 753-778. Law review article that critiques the application of the frye test as a measure for determining admissibility of evidence given via facilitation.
Cardinal, D., Hanson, D., & Wakeham, J. (1996). An investigation of authorship in facilitated communication. Mental Retardation, 34 (4), 231-242 . The largest scale validation study to date. Forty-three individuals were asked to type words that they had seen but their facilitators had not seen. Seventy-four percent of the participants demonstrated that facilitation aided them in conveying words their facilitators had no way of knowing.
Crossley, R. (1994). Facilitated Communication Training. New York: Teachers College Press. A classic how-to book about facilitation with people with severe communication difficulties.
Crossley, R. & McDonald, A. (1984) Annie's Coming Out. New York: Viking Penguin. An autobiographical account of one person's (Anne McDonald's) struggle to leave a mental retardation institution. McDonald, who learned to communicate via facilitation, had to pass several validation tests before being declared competent and permitted to leave the institution.
Crossley, R. & Remington-Gurney, J. (1992). Getting the words out I. Topics in Language Disorders, 12 (4), 29-45. Part of a special issue of this journal devoted to facilitated communication. This article provides some background on the method and its use with individuals in Australia.
Dwyer, J. (1996). Access to justice for people with severe communication impairment. Administrative Law Review, 3 (2), 73-120. An exceptionally well documented, thorough review of legal issues surrounding facilitated communication in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S.
Eastham, M. (1992). Silent words. Ottawa: Oliver Pate. A mother's account of how her son learned to communicate with facilitation and to become an independent typist. Includes poetry of David Eastham, written prior to his untimely death. This is one of several instances internationally where facilitated communication was discovered, independent of similar discoveries in other countries.
Eberlin, M. McConnachie, G. Ibel, S., & Volpe, L. (1993) Facilitated communication: A failure to replicate the phenomenon. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 23 (3), 507-530. One of the early studies in which the individuals tested were unable to demonstrate that they were communicating their own thoughts.
Grandin, T. & Scariano, M.N. (1986). Emergence labeled autistic. Novato, CA: Arena Press. A classic autobiography by Temple Grandin about her life with autism, including accounts of her experiences as a child before people knew she could understand them even though she could not let them know through speech. This is not a book about facilitation, but it is nevertheless important to understanding facilitation, for many of her experiences parallel those reported by people who now use facilitation.
Halle, J.W., Chadsey-Rusch, J., and Reichle, J. (1994). Editorial introduction to special topic on facilitated communication. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 19 (3), 149-150. Introduction to articles by Green & Shane, Biklen & Duchan, and to commentaries by Horner, Kaiser, Whitehurst, and Williams. A good example of the parameters of the current dialogue over facilitated communication. Much of the debate centers on the meaning and assessment of mental retardation. The article by Williams, cited below in full, is of particular interest.
In the Matter of Luz P. (anonymous). Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, 92-07565, March 29, 1993. The first, and most cited court decision in which it was found that individuals using facilitation should have a chance to prove they are communicating their own words, and that the fact that they use a novel means of communication should not in itself be cause for exclusion from court.
Intellectual Disability Review Panel. (1989) Investigation into the reliability and validity of the assisted communication technique. Melbourne: Department of Community Services, Victoria. An often cited study, the first formal study, of facilitated communication. Four of the six individuals tested demonstrated that they were able to communicate their own thoughts via the method. One individual who produced valid communication also demonstrated that he could be influenced in his communication by the facilitator.
Jacobson, J. W., Mulick, J.A., and Schwartz, A.A. (1995). A history of facilitated communication: Science, pseudoscience, and antiscience, American Psychologist, 50 (9), 750-765. Starting with a biting attack of facilitated communication, the authors suggest that this method's acceptance is related to "anti-science" views that they say have led to deinstitutionalization and inclusion which the authors also attack.
Kangas, K.A. & Lloyd, L.L. (1988). Early cognitive skills as prerequisites to augmentative and alternative communication use: What are we waiting for? Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 4, 211-221. While not about facilitated communication, this is an important article in the field of augmentative and alternative communication. It makes the point that children with developmental disabilities are often not given means of communication because they are unable to demonstrate certain motor and response skills. The article argues for providing students with developmental disabilities literature-rich and communication-rich environments as well as access to communication devices and methods, even if traditional prerequisites (e.g. evidence of literacy skills; evidence of communiction strategies) have not been demonstrated.
Kochmeister, S.J. (1994). Reflections on a year of turmoil and growth. Facilitated Communication Digest, 2, (4), 6-8. An account by a person who was once presumed severely retarded and who subsequently learned to communicate with facilitation before progressing to the point where she can type without any physical support.
Koppenhaver, D.A., Pierce, P.L. & Yoder, D.E. (1995). AAC, FC, and the ABCs: Issues and relationships. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 4 (4), 5-15. The authors suggest that knowledge from the fields of AAC and literacy be integrated into the research and clinical practice of facilitated communication. This article includes an account of the experiences of one of the authors in a summer program for children with autism. Without the use of FC, the author was able to discover literacy skills in all individuals far in excess of what would be expected on the basis of their formal evaluations and school performance.
Leary, M.R. & Hill, D.A. (1996). Moving on: Autism and movement disturbance, Mental Retardation, 34 (1), 39-53. A detailed account of motor problems seen in individuals with developmental disabilities; motor difficulties may block individuals from revealing intellectual abilities.
Luxton, M.S. (1994). Facilitated communication for people with autism in the courts: Balancing the need for reliable evidence with the requirements of the Constitution. Hamline Law Review, 18 (2), 201-230. Law review article argues for the right of people using facilitation to participate in the courtroom, under certain conditions.
Marcus, E. and Shevin, M. (In press) Sorting it out under fire: Our journey. In D. Biklen and D. Cardinal (eds.) Presuming Competence. New York: Teachers College Press. One of the authors (Marcus) has autism. In this article he replicates the Wheeler study cited below, and demonstrates that he is the author of the words he types with facilitation.
Martin, R. (1994). Out of silence: A journey into language. NY: Henry Holt and Company. A popular book that recounts the author's nephew's introduction to facilitated communication and his subsequent experiences. This book was very favorably reviewed in the New York Times Book Review and other major media outlets.
Maurer, N. (1995). Facilitated communication: Can children with autism have a voice in court? Maryland Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, 6 (2), 233-282. A detailed analysis of cases in the U.S. involving facilitation, and a concise argument for how, when, and under what conditions testimony via facilitated communication should be accepted in the courtroom.
Nolan, C. (1987). Under the eye of the clock. New York: St. Martins Press. A best-selling autobiographical novel by a writer with cerebral palsy, including a brief description of his writing method, that includes facilitation.
Olney, M. (1995). A controlled evaluation of facilitated communication. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. A controlled, quantitative study in which adult users of facilitation were asked to play sophisticated computer games when their facilitators could not see the computer screen. Five of nine participants succeeded in responding correctly to a majority of questions or activities, validating their communicative competence at statistically significant levels.
Oppenheim, R. C. (1974). Effective Teaching Methods for Autistic Children. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. A parent/educator's account of a touch method of handwriting with individuals with autism that appears to be the same thing as facilitated communication. Includes a theoretical explanation based on apraxia.
Schneiderman, H (1994). Letter to the editor: Personal experiences with facilitative communication. Journal of Child Neurology, 9, (3). A father/pediatrician recounts his own experiences in being a facilitator for his son and the conversations they have had together. Includes some fascinating uses of archaic expressions by the author's son.
Sellin, B. (1995). I don't want to be inside me anymore: Messages from an autistic mind. New York: Basic Books. An autobiographical account of one person's learning to communicate via facilitation. Exceptionally rich material on how one person experiences autism.
State of Kansas v. Warden, S.Ct. Kansas, No. 70,337, 1995 LEXIS 41. Supreme Court of Kansas decision allowing a conviction based on an allegation and testimony by facilitation in an abuse case.
Sheehan, C. & Matuozzi, R. (1996) Validation of facilitated communication. Mental Retardation, 34 (2), 94-107. A research study involving 3 individuals, all of whom prove their communicative competence in an authorship test involving message passing. The authors provide detailed explanations and examples of how and when students succeeded with the authorship validation tasks.
Sienkiewicz-Mercer, R. & Kaplan, S. B. (1989). I raise my eyes to say yes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Not about facilitation, but this book is a very well written and important account of communication with augmentative and alternative systems, demonstrating the importance of interaction between the person doing the communicating and a communication partner.
Steering Committee, Division of Intellectual Disability Services (1993). The Queensland report on facilitated communication. Brisbane: Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs. A year long authorship study using qualitative and quantitative techniques and activities. 82% of the participants demonstrated their authorship via facilitation.
Taylor, S. (1994). Editor's introduction to the exchange of opinion on the risks and benefits of facilitated communication. Mental Retardation, 32 (4), 299-300. Introduces article by Levine, Shane, and Wharton that calls for evaluating facilitated communication using guidelines developed for new medical treatments. Levine, Shane, and Wharton advocate that use and promotion of facilitated communication be halted until or unless "sound scientific evidence" establishes its validity as a means of communication. Commentaries--most of them are critical of the Levine et al. framework and conclusion--are offered by Ferguson & Horner, Goode, Halle, and Hitzing, with a rejoinder by Levine et al.
Weiss, M.J.S., Wagner, S., & Bauman, M. (1996). A case of validated facilitated communication. Mental Retardation, 34 (4), 220-230. An article reporting on a controlled investigation of authorship using message passing. The study is especially important because it involves elaborate content for the message passing.
Wheeler, D.L., Jacobson, J.W., Paglieri, R.A., & Schwartz, A.A. (1993). Mental Retardation, 31 (1), 49-60. The most often cited, classic study of authorship on facilitation, where all participants failed to demonstrate authorship and where many were clearly influenced in the communication by their facilitators.
Williams, D. (1994). Invited commentary: In the Real World. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 19, 196-199. Best selling author, Donna Williams, gives a brilliant critique of arguments on both sides of the facilitation debate; she offers her own explanations for why the method may work and also why some people may easily be influenced in their communication.
Zoeller, Dietmar (1992). Ich gebe nichtauf (I won't give up). Bern: Scherz Verlag. Autobiographical account of life with autism, written by a person who uses facilitation. Includes useful insights into difficulties with dyspraxia.