What is Facilitated Communication? BOP Rewind | Session 199/336 | Jason Travers

Welcome to Session 336 The Behavioral Observations Podcast.

Well technically, this is actually Session 199, and I wanted to take a minute to explain why you're hearing a rebroadcast.

This conversation with Dr. Jason Travers originally aired back in September of 2022, but I've decided it's worth bringing back because, unfortunately, the issues surrounding Facilitated Communication haven't gone away. In fact, if anything, they've become more relevant.

Over the past several years, we've continued to see heartwarming news stories and viral social media posts featuring non-speaking autistic individuals who appear to be communicating through methods such as Facilitated Communication, the Rapid Prompting Method, or Spelling to Communicate. These stories are understandably compelling. We all want people with significant communication challenges to have access to effective ways to express themselves.

The problem is that hope, by itself, isn't evidence.

Facilitated Communication has been studied extensively for decades, and the scientific record is remarkably consistent. The evidence has repeatedly shown that the messages produced through FC originate with the facilitator, not the individual. Despite that, these practices continue to find new audiences under different names and in different settings.

As behavior analysts—and really, as anyone who cares about helping people with disabilities—we have an obligation to evaluate interventions based on evidence, even when the conclusions are uncomfortable. That's especially true when the potential harms are so significant, not only for the individuals using these methods, but also for their families, educators, and support teams.

I also think this episode serves as a useful foundation because I plan to cover this topic in greater depth over the coming months, along with other interventions that have gained popularity despite lacking scientific support. Rather than assuming everyone has heard this discussion before, I thought it made sense to revisit what I think is one of the clearest introductions to the topic.

So whether you're hearing this conversation for the first time or giving it another listen, I hope you'll pay particular attention to the history of Facilitated Communication, how it was scientifically evaluated, why those findings matter, and how Dr. Travers recommends discussing these issues with colleagues and families in a way that's both accurate and compassionate.

Please note that I edited out the “how did you get into ABA segment,” so you can get right to the heart of the topic. I’ll include links to the original recording if you want to go back and hear more about Jason’s background.

Here are the shownotes from the original broadcast:

If your social media consumption is anything like mine, you've likely seen some feel-good stories in the media as of late that report on non-speaking students - generally students with Autism - who are graduating from college, giving valedictorian speeches, and so forth. 

Unfortunately, what's often underpinning many of these cases is a form of Facilitated Communication, or FC for short. What is FC? Glad you asked!

In today's episode, Dr. Jason Travers, Associate Professor at Temple University, joins me today to answer this very question (follow him on Twitter here). 

We covered the history of Facilitated Communication, the early scientific investigations that discredited this practice, FC's variants like the Rapid Prompting Method and Spelling to Communicate, where the practice of FC stands today, the harms that Facilitated Communication causes both users and caregivers, and how Behavior Analysts should both view and talk about these practices. 

Jason also provides the audience with a treasure trove of additional resources:

• Jason's Research Gate and Google Scholar pages.

• The original Session 199 broadcast.

• Jason's on-demand CEU on Spelling2Communicate (use promo code PODCAST to save at checkout!).

• Facilitatedcommunication.org 

• ASHA Policy Statements on Facilitated Communication and Rapid Prompting Method.

• Facilitated Communication—what harm it can do: Confessions of a former facilitator (Boynton, 2012).

• An Examination of the Role of the Facilitator in “Facilitated Communication” (Shane and Kearns, 1994).

• Ideomotor Effect explained.

• The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (note: Amazon Associated link).

• Skeptic Magazine (Amazon Associate Link); The Skeptical Inquirer. 

• The Reading Wars.

• Facilitated Communication: The Clinical and Social Phenomenon (Shane 1994; Amazon Associate Link).

Sponsor shoutouts!

• Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. Don't forget to use the coupon code, PODCAST to save at checkout!
• Safety-Care is a crisis prevention and de-escalation training program designed for professionals who support individuals with challenging behavior. More than 300,000 professionals have been trained in Safety-Care's evidence-based approach to recognizing early warning signs and responding with confidence. To learn more, visit QBS.com/podcast.
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