In the early '90s, facilitated communication was the big breakthrough. It was finally a way for nonverbal people to communicate their innermost thoughts while getting an assist from a facilitator. But then it started to become more clear that it was the facilitator who was actually communicating, and communicating some horrific allegations of sexual abuse, leading many upstanding organizations to denounce facilitated communication as a pseudoscience. Yet it still gets practiced. In this episode, cohosts Beth and Kelly talk about the story of Anna Stubblefield and DJ, and a "romance" concocted through facilitated communication.
Theme music: Big White Lie by A Cast of Thousands
Cite your sources:
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“Facilitated Communication and Rapid Prompting Method.” American Association of Intellectual and Development Disabilities, 9 Jan. 2019, www.aaidd.org/news-policy/policy/position-statements/facilitated-communication-and-rapid-prompting-method.
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Ovalle, David, and Kyra Gurney. “How a Teacher's 'Junk Science' Landed a Dad in Jail on Charge of Raping His Autistic Son.” Miamiherald, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2018, www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article204034704.html.
Palfremen, Jon, director. Prisoners of Silence. Frontline, PBS, 19 Oct. 1993, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOqIMT4YqnY.