Facilitated Communication, though widely discredited, is still being taught at Syracuse University. Rutgers University ethics professor Anna Stubblefield, found guilty of sexually assaulting a disabled, non-verbal man, learned FC at SU. She and others trusted FC because, for some three decades, it has been promoted by SU faculty.

In a letter to The Daily Orange on March 26, 28 SU faculty accuse those questioning FC of not respecting the rights of vulnerable groups. This is deeply confused logic.

Clinical interventions are tested using double-blind clinical trials. In every double-blind trial, FC failed to demonstrate that it allowed non-verbal autistic individuals to communicate accurately. The International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication concluded that FC shows “messages generated through FC are authored by the facilitators rather than the individuals with disabilities.”

There have been over 50 allegations of child sexual abuse as a result of FC. In many of those cases, the child or children were removed from the home, the father was incarcerated and the family used enormous amounts of savings to hire legal defense. This was despite there being no evidence other than the FC accusations. One of the fathers, accused via FC of abusing his autistic daughter, spent 80 days in jail. His two children were put in foster care during that time. There was no physical or other corroborating evidence; the charges were eventually dropped, after the family suffered months of terror.

SU has and continues to benefit financially from FC. An internet search documented that SU has received more that $2 million related to FC.

Our colleagues who support FC claim academic freedom to do so. Academic freedom was instituted to protect faculty from the negative repercussions of expressing controversial political opinions. The continuing promotion of FC at SU is best seen not a matter of academic freedom, but as the cynical manipulation of the hopes and emotions of families to whom this discredited intervention is promoted. SU’s support of FC represents a serious conflict of interest. It’s shameful that our university continues to benefit financially from a clinical intervention that completely lacks clinical trial evidence for its efficacy.

Sincerely,

Sandra D. Lane, Ph.D., MPH

Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor

Professor of Public Health

Robert A. Rubinstein, Ph.D., MsPH

Distinguished Professor of Anthropology

Professor of International Relations

Published on April 1, 2018 at 6:39 pm