From Freep.com: (click for entire article)
Article excerpt: "Oakland County prosecutors are seeking to close a Monday hearing in which an autistic child is expected to demonstrate a controversial communication method she reportedly used to claim that her father had been abusing her.
The child, 14, is severely autistic and unable to speak, according to court records. She has been using facilitated communication, a method routinely dismissed by experts and courts, to claim that her father has been sexually assaulting her since she was 6 and that her mother knew of the abuse, but did nothing.
In this method of communicating, the child will use another person -- in this case, a school aide -- to help guide her hands on a keyboard so she can type messages. Numerous studies show that autistic children are unable to communicate using such means, and that the facilitator guiding the child's hands often influences the messages, even subconsciously. Most major mental health organizations, including the American Psychological Society, dismiss the system as unreliable."
Patti's Comments: This form of facilitated communication was something I did not understand either for a long time, but I have seen it work and it is pretty interesting. I encourage you all to learn more about this.
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