Systematic Review of Facilitated Communication 2014–2018 Finds No New Evidence That Messages Delivered Using Facilitated Communication Are Authored by the Person With Disability
Autism & Developmental Language Impairments
Hemsley, B., Bryant, L., et al. (2018).
Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, 3, 2396941518821570.
This systematic review investigates the authorship of facilitated communication (FC) messages and the validity of the use of FC with individuals with disabilities.
No funding received
2014 to 2018
Peer-reviewed, English-language, full-text studies (Not further specified)
18
The authors found no studies showing that individuals with disabilities are the authors of facilitated communication (FC) messages, and they highlight "warnings of at least 19 professional and advocacy organizations around the world against its [FC] use" (p. 6). While outside the aim of this review to investigate authorship of FC messages, the authors noted substantial peer-reviewed literature that is critical of the use of FC. The authors "conclude that in FC authorship is influenced by the facilitator" (p. 6) and that there is "no evidence that FC is a valid form of communication for individuals with severe communication disabilities" (p. 6).
