Subject: Facilitative Communication

Hi Everyone:

Despite the controversy about F.C. (facilitative communication), David is using it. Sign language, pictures and a talking communiction device failed with David but F. C. has worked. He only uses it on a limited basis--mostly for food or when we won't respond until he does do it. He has been able to tell us "my knee joint hurts" (he had developed a sore behind his knee), his "stomach" hurt (he had an upset stomach) and many other things. His success depends on the frequency with which it is used (with the controversy most professionals won't try). He has become so proficient with gestures that we don't take the time to make him use it.

We were skeptical about F.C. at first, but when David spells one word and you were expecting him to spell another--you know it works. Becuse he has never been taught how to spell, he sometimes spells phonetically. When we first learned that he could do it, about three years ago, we asked him his sister's name. Her name is Cathy and we expected he would spell that. Instead he spelled "M Q". Her married name is McHugh. He often mispells words but he has demonstrated an understanding of time of day, week and month. The intelligence is there but we aren't smart enough to access it most of the time.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR ANGEL!

Carolyn & Fred Windbeck (David 28)

Subject: Re: Facilitative Communication

I can't say I know enough about f.c. to be for or against it. But I know I want to learn more about it. Kelsey has a tendency to grab my hand frequently, then she leads my hand to what she wants.... a toy, a picture, her glass of milk, or whatever. It's not that she can't grab these items herself, but sometimes she just uses me to communicate "through". I'd like to see if she continues this and if she is able to carry it through with more abstract forms of communication.

Does anyone else's Angel do this. Also, I saw just a glimps of some show the other night where they somehow hooked up electrodes to a computer for people who were not verbal. They would select an item on the computer screen VISUALLY and somehow (I think) the message was translated and spoken verbally by the computer. NOW don't quote me on any of this, I did not get the whole show. I'm going to try to find out more about it --- BUT what an amazing thought!!!!!!!! Did anyone else see this by chance.

Kathy V.

Subject: Re: Facilitative Communication

Coralynn also puts my hand on whatever it is that she wants. Even though I know she can grab it herself she still uses my hand to say what she wants. At that point I tell her fine, but you have to ask for it, and she taps the item just like we tought her to do.

Corinne

Subject: Re: Facilitative Communication

Hi Kathy!

Yes, Whitney often grabs our arm to have us pick up something for her (sometimes I think that she thinks that she can't reach it-or- she is just lazy?? or in a hurry??)... Another odd behavior is that she'll bring our hands together to clap. I have always thought this was her attempt to get attention.. It must be very frustrating to think that you're being left out of the conversation... and I know that the A.S. children are very, very perceptive!! Whenever we talk among ourselves (or on the phone)- Whitney does everything she can to get attention or "get in the middle"!

Another thing I wanted to mention is how attentive Whitney is now when we take her to Sea World or a Chargers football game! She used to not be able to focus too long... now she takes in the ENTIRE show or game - and claps appropriately! Of course, the events are noisy- so we don't have to worry about that... but I know that she has made tremendous progress in that area!

Alice Whitney-15

Subject: Re: Facilitative Communication

I've heard about a computer that people use that don't have use of their arms, etc. They can look at an object for a few seconds and it's like pointing or using an arrow key. I guess it's possible that they could even do what you said you saw. How neat.

I'm an aide to a AS child and found that she can use a mouse pretty well. She can even click on things and drag them. I'm hoping to do alot more of this with her this year. We do FC with her, but most of the time she fights it, unless she wants to do it. It's over and over and over. I want so much to help her with finding a way to communicate because I feel she is a smart person inside.

Subject: Facilitated communication

Hi! I'm also new to this list and have a 14-year-old son, David, who has not been diagnosed with Angelmans (yet) but has a deletion on the 15 chromosome. If he's not Angelmans, he is a FIRST cousin for sure! Just this morning I started reading the e-mail web page and found all sorts of interesting information. My son has approximately 20 words and has been using facilitated communication VERY successfully for over 4 years. We always felt like he took in a lot more than was apparent, but we were astounded at just how much information he had crammed into his little head over the years. I read where Marianne uses it some with Emily. Are there any others out there who have tried it? I'd love to hear from you. It has always been frustrating to see how poorly David scores on various tests simply due to his communication problems. (According to the school system, he has an IQ of 22. It's amazing how someone can read, comprehend, spell and do math with such a low IQ!!) Because of this, we have really had problems trying to get appropriate educational opportunities for him. David is standing here waving his bathing suit at me, so I guess it's time to GO SWIMMING!!

Barbara

Subject: Facilitated communication

Harold & any others interested in info on FC, Syracuse University has a web site which gives quite a bit of information of facilitated communication. If you have any specific questions after checking there, please just ask! http://web.syr.edu/~thefci

Barbara