PEDIATRICS Vol. 97 No. 4 April 1996, pp. 584-586
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Facilitated Communication

Sharon L. Hostler MD1

1 Division of Developmental Pediatrics, Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center, Children's Medical Center, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA 22903-4972

The optimistic side of FC, that nonspeaking children could miraculously become competent communicators, is unfortunately a myth. The dark side of the phenomenon of FC includes false hope, false communication, family disruption, losses of job and reputation, and inappropriate use of scarce resources.14 Unwitting pediatricians have accepted transcripts of FC that described sexual abuse by family members. The result was removal of the child from the family and prosecution of the alleged perpetrator even though the evidence suggested that the communication came from the facilitator and not from the child.16

As more families seek alternative health care for themselves29 and for their children,30 we pediatricians have the following responsibilities: 1) to become informed about our own community's offerings; 2) to develop a framework for our own evaluation (What is the theory or proposed mechanism? What is the research evidence? What is the cost in money and time? What is the potential harm?);)31 3) to support parents as they evaluate the risks and benefits of nontraditional interventions for their children;32 4) to advocate strongly for controlled evaluations of alternative therapies;33 and 5) to remember the unfortunate consequences of therapies such as facilitated communication when inclined to dismiss a nontraditional treatment as "not doing any harm."

Submitted on November 22, 1995
Accepted on November 22, 1995




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