Writings from Parents, Family, and Friends of Individuals Who Use AAC
Judy Bailey — Augmentative Communication with Mother: Lessons from Pesky Laryngitis to End of Life Impairment. The moving force behind this website talks about the roots of her involvement in AAC. http://everyonecommunicates.com/judybailey/communication_with_mother.html
Lynda Beedham — When in Doubt, Write it Out! "Our [6 year old] son was deemed too low functioning for even the most basic picture communication system. During the parent interview, I had described what I considered to be Eric's word recognition skills - reading was what I called it. He would place wooden blocks in a row: E R I C - A B C D E F G - S T O P . He snuggled in bed with a dictionary instead of a stuffed bear. It was a beginning, I thought, and I felt this showed that he could be taught to read. The examiner patted my hand and told me that I was being unrealistic. My goals should be more in line with Eric's potential, that is, eye contact and sitting appropriately." Fascinating report of a nonspeaking boy whose family discovered his hyperlexia and then had to work to get him an education when his reading ability was "pushed aside as an idiosyncratic, non-relevant skill." http://judyanddavid.com/cha/our_story/eric.html
Kelly Brunswick — Brotherly Love. Interview with Kelly Brunswick about his brother Andy who uses FC in Maine. http://www.teenink.com/Past/1997/8323.html
Jim Butler (Arlington, Virginia) — Discussion and links concerning autism and disabilities rights including People Who Use FC, Considerations for FC Research, Facilitated Communication: More on Independent Typists: http://www.geocities.com/acujames/; Musings on raising a son with nonverbal autism: http://autvocate.blogspot.com/
Patrizia Cadei — The Italian Experience http://www.inclusioninstitutes.org/index.cfm?catID=30&articleID=341
Nancy Diehl — A LETTER TO COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. In speaking about her son, Nancy Diehl says, "... Because he has no 'voice' in anything, he has begun to develop a 'rage disorder.' The only relief he has had for all this frustration is facilitated communication ... Communication is an awesome gift – I know I would not want to live without it! It seems too easy for those who are blessed with high level communication skills to ask those who have no voice at all to wait passively for the day that science understands and finds a way for them to communicate. In the meantime, those with no real voice should have access to every available communication technique that works for them. We don't always understand how bumble bees fly – but they do! We don't understand all the reasons that aspirin works, but we carefully use it to relieve some of life's pain. I only ask that we be allowed to use this tool, if only until FC is a tool no longer needed because we have a much better way ..." http://web.syr.edu/~thefci/3-4die.htm
Margaret Eastham — Silent Words: Forever Friends (1992) (Ottawa: Oliver Pate). A mother's account of how her son learned to communicate with facilitation and to become an independent typist. Forever Friends is a collection of previously unpublished works by the late David Eastham. On-line review: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0969601204/002-2947314-2739203?v=glance&n=283155
Elaine Hall, Founder/Director of The Miracle Project — "Neal is non verbal (or as we prefer to refer to him 'a man of few words') so when he speaks his truth through typing - WE LISTEN." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elaine-hall/obama-and-autism_b_137571.html
Pat Henry — "Pat Henry Says Autistic Child Is 'The Glue That Holds Our Family Together'" by Christina Siebold from The Chattanoogan.com in the F.E.A.T. Chattanooga Newsletter. http://gigli.tripod.com/news/2002/april-page3.htm
Nancy Hogan — When Two Worlds Collide: Using Aug. Com. in the Home by Nancy J. Hogan, Assistive Technology Specialist, The CCATT Center, Northampton, MA. "Jamie, my wonderful puzzle, is approaching three all too quickly. This is the story about how he is learning to communicate..." http://www.connsensebulletin.com/worlds.html
Merlie and David Jackson — Jessie Jackson: A Very Busy Communicative Teenager. PRC Profile of Success: "Jessie Jackson is just your everyday active 17 year old. She enjoys horses, music and watching romantic comedies. She is, however, very different in how she communicates her wants, needs, and dreams." http://www.prentrom.com/newsletter/june2009/succeed/#jessie
Ray Kopp (Syracuse, New York) — Ray Kopp's AAC and FC page: http://web.syr.edu/~rjkopp/data/augfc.html
Russell Martin — Out of Silence: An Autistic Boy's Journey into Language and Communication, 1994 (New York: Holt). Story of writer's nephew Ian Drummond, who uses facilitated communication. Reviews at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0805019987/102-4091685-2696162
Kim McLean — A Voice of Her Own: Augmentative communication device opens up new world. "I was afraid that the device would cause her to stop trying to talk, that she would rely upon it too much for communication. But it has been just the opposite, having the device has encouraged her to talk even more," said McLean. http://www.ucp.org/ucp_generaldoc.cfm/1/6996/6997/10829-12006/4791
Polly Medlicott — Tell the World. Every kid is really smart. We're the ones who are retarded. "What my son Christian and I want to tell the world, in hopes we might save some other kids, is his own story because Chris's silence nearly caused him to be lost." "What my son Chris and I want to scream to the world is this: How can professionals not understand that when they don't give a kid a way to communicate and the tools to do what other kids his age are doing, he will become deeply depressed and stop trying?" http://www.mouthmag.com/issues/79/medlicott.htm Polly and Chris were involved with the Community Inclusive Theatre Group in Raleigh, North Carolina. An hour-long documentary on the group's work has been made by Durham, NC filmmaker Kenny Dalsheimer. Further information and a clip from the film: http://southerndocumentaryfund.org/projects/a-new-kind-of-listening and http://anewkindoflistening.com/.
Soma Mukhopadhyay — Breaking the Silence ... CBS covered the story of Tito and his mother who helped to unlock her son's ability to communicate. January 15, 2003 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/01/14/60II/main536416.shtml
Ralph J. Savarese —
Interview with Ralph J. Savarese, Ph.D., author of Reasonable People, A Memoir of Autism and Adoption: "Without facilitated communication, we would never have seen just how rich, complex, compassionate and funny is our son’s interior life. Watching DJ email his friends from Florida, where we used to live, or hanging out with his friends in Iowa is the best reward for all of our hard work."
http://www.nlmfoundation.org/about_autism/features/savarese_features.htm
A Note about FC and DJ's Writings: "He has an uncanny ability to organize his thoughts; he understands how an argument works, and these skills only continue to improve. But there is still something there that is distinctly atypical about his communication, something irreducibly him."
http://www.reasonable-people.com
Gena Shaw — Devoted caregivers key to progress for boy with autism by Gina M. Scherffius. "Facilitated communication is controversial, but I think it should be attempted with all non-verbal disabled people," Ms. Shaw said. http://rescare.com/news/success_stories/2008/caregivers.cfm
Diane "Ditty" Tower — Lifelong Devotion. Mother, Diane "Ditty" Tower, put aside her life to focus on her son Geoffrey Powers with Down syndrome who communicates via FC. He will graduate from high school with honors (2002). http://www.sptimes.com/2002/05/12/TampaBay/Lifelong_devotion.shtml
Lyn Wetherbee — http://ianwetherbee.com Chapters of book written by Win (father) and Ian (son) Wetherbee are posted in Ian's blog starting with March 2006. Also on the website: Friends and family of Ian Wetherbee: Fascinating text of seven interviews with people who know Ian (family, friends, teachers, fellow students) with added comments by Ian (see About Ian section of site) regarding his communication.
Franklin and Pat Wilson — Developing Successful Schooling Experiences for FC Users: An Interview with Franklin and Pat Wilson, Paula Kluth, Syracuse University. Franklin and his mother, Pat Wilson, have worked hard to educate teachers and administrators about facilitated communication throughout the years. In the following interview, Franklin and Pat share some secrets of their success. http://www.inclusioninstitutes.org/index.cfm?catID=135&articleID=204
Karen Wise — Memorable Christmas.- A Letter to our Family and Friends, Karen Wise, parent, facilitator. "... In February 1993, we were blessed with the awesome discovery of Chris's ability to communicate. He had been introduced to facilitation as a means for him to interact with the rest of the world. We are now getting to know the real Chris Wise, the person who has been such a mystery to all who have known him ..." http://web.syr.edu/~thefci/5-2lap.htm#Memorable
Wallace and Gayalyn Wojtowicz — "Heart Savants": Interviewed in this video about Wally Jr which includes some of his writing in text. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inRak4jGgmE
Barbara Yates — KEEP BELIEBVING IN ME, Barbara Yates, Pocatello, ID. "... At the height of his independence, David had typed, 'the truth gives me courage,' but now discouragement seemed to be his constant companion ..." http://web.syr.edu/~thefci/2-3yat.htm
Collections of Writings
A Foot in Both Worlds: A Collection of Personal Accounts from Speakers, Their Families, Friends and Facilitators, edited by Mary Lapos. Available at a cost of $US 5.00 (+ $2.00 shipping) from The AutCom Bookstore. Excerpts from A Foot In Both Worlds: http://www.inclusioninstitutes.org/index.cfm?catID=30&articleID=347
If You Look In their Eyes You Know: Parents' Perspectives on Facilitated Communication by Sue Lehr, Institute on Facilitated Communication, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 1992. (available from the http://books.google.com/books?id=vWucHAAACAAJ&dq=If+you+look+in+their+eyes,+you+know) "We are just beginning to recognize the potential for more clearly understanding what our sons and daughters want and how they think about their lives."
Facilitated Communication: Issues for Parents, Margaret Chatfield Hutt, Valley Polytechnic, New Zealand. "This paper covers the following areas: issues related to attitudes; the importance of validation; observations and suggestions on facilitation training for family members and caregivers; and obtaining support for parents and their sons and daughters." http://web.syr.edu/~thefci/1-3cha.htm
Makaton Website Personal Stories. Reports by family members of individuals of various ages and with various disabilities who communicate using symbols. "A lot of parents are resistant to using Makaton as 'they want their child to speak' and think that if they teach signing it will inhibit speech. Professionals need to make clear to parents that this is not the case." http://www.makaton.org/about/stories.htm