title: Authorship in facilitated communication: an analysis of 11 cases.
abstract: We studied the authorship of messages produced through facilitated communication (FC) for all users of FC in two comprehensive schools in a small city in Finland. The participants were 11 children with intellectual disabilities, including autism, all having used FC from 1-3 years. The test conditions involved open and blind information-passing tasks in which the participants were directed to write down the contents of written or pictorial stimuli. The results failed to validate FC as a method of communication for any participant or facilitator. An analysis of the messages produced under the FC condition revealed a large degree of facilitator influence on the content of the messages produced. Additionally, FC impaired the performance of the two participants who had previously demonstrated some independent writing skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä , Finland.
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saloviita
authors.forename: Marjatta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leppänen
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ojalammi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001319:Authorship; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Augmentative and alternative communication; Autism; Facilitated communication; Intellectual disabilities