The dark legacy of FC

Abstract

In this paper of the EBP Speaker's Corner, the former producer of the FRONTLINE report “Prisoners of Silence, “reacts to the perspectives paper by Janyce Boynton, entitled “Facilitated Communication – what harm it can do: Confessions of a former facilitator” (Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention, 6(1), 3–13).

Source of funding: No source of funding reported.

Jon Palfreman, a 2006 Nieman Fellow, is KEZI Distinguished Professor of Broadcast Journalism at the University of Oregon. A veteran of both UK and US television, he has made more than 40 BBC and PBS one-hour documentaries, including the Peabody Award-winning series The Machine That Changed the World, the Emmy Award-winning NOVA program Siamese Twins, and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton winner Harvest of Fear. In 1993, he produced the FRONTLINE report Prisoners of Silence, which helped to expose Facilitated Communication.

Keywords:

• Facilitated Communication
• Abuse
• Scientific testing
• Evidence
• Unsupported treatments

Acknowledgments

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest and is solely responsible for the content of this article.