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"It's not easy, firstly because FC is something that has evolved piecemeal, at different times, in different countries, and in different ways; secondly because even now, more than twenty five years since it first came to prominence, it is still evolving; and finally, because finding the right words to define FC is almost impossible. But here goes!
Essentially, it is a ludicrously simple technique which provides slight hand/wrist support (gradually fading to the merest touch on the shoulder and eventually to no support at all) to non-speaking people with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, severe autism, Rett and Down's Syndrome, to enable them to point at pictures, words or letters, in order to make themselves understood. It is a technique born of the recognition that for some reason - whether psychological, psychic, neuro-motor, or other - many such people are unable to initiate the physical movements needed for pointing and identifying. Since they had never been able to express themselves, it had always been taken for granted that they were incapable of doing so. Facilitated Communication aimed to change that perception."
Extract from 'Voices from Silence' |