My perceptions as to why the disability community bought into facilitated communication so readily and easily...
My first impression of facilitated communication was…wow that is great! These humans who are limited in so many ways finally have a chance to express themselves. But after watching the video and hearing discussions, my perception has changed. Facilitated communication could be a powerful tool, if everyone in the world could be trusted equally. The reality of it is that there are people in this world that are not truthful, and should not be in charge of another human beings determination of skill and ability. The part of the movie that shows an examination in which the facilitator sees a dog, but the person with disabilities sees a house, and the keyboard read dog, which is not what was seen by the client. This caught my attention and literally made my jaw drop. What is the motive behind these actions? I suppose a feeling of despair and sympathy, or maybe just madness.
I could only assume that the disabled community bought into the facilitated communication is because it made them feel like they knew more than they really did. It made them feel more normal. Who doesn’t enjoy being right? Who doesn’t take pride when someone praises them? These “prisoners of silence” have had a journey through life in which no one can understand them, or hear them. They may have felt like this would be their chance for a semi normal life, which who could blame them?
