I mentioned this article to a colleague yesterday, and then asked "What do you think the girl's 'first words' through FC were?". Without missing a beat, my colleague (who hadn't read the article) said "I'll bet she said 'Mom, I love you'". Sure enough, in the article we see
"With [FC Institute trainer] Chadwick helping to stablilize her right wrist and her mother watching, a girl thought to be incapable of learning to read or write slowly typed, 'I love Mom'". I guess what's important is telling a good story, and not worrying details like reality. Later other FC Institute folks report various other miracles, including this gem: "One day, when [FC Institute tutor] Jacob presented her with a page of 30 or so math problems, Hannah took one look, then typed all 30 answers. Stunned, Jacob asked, 'Do you have a photographic memory?'. Hannah typed 'Yes.'". The most telling part of the article comes shortly after that, when the writer tells us "Hannah's newfound ability to communicate has enabled her intellect to flower, but it also has a dark side: she has become painfully aware of her own autism. Of this, she writes, 'Reality hurts'". There's a couple of interesting layers of meaning going on here, right? There's quite a bit here about the article's author, and about the FC enthusiasts. Paul Smith Alverno College Milwaukee On 5/11/06, Marie Helweg-Larsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
The cover of this week's time is on "New insights into the hidden world of autism". http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1191843,00.html The lead into the main article describes how facilitated communication helped turn around the life of a 13 year old autistic girl. The author does mention (ending the example) that "Facilitated communication is controversial (critics complain that it's often the facilitator who is really communicating), but it has clearly turned Hannah's life around." I guess FC will never go away (sigh!). Marie -- ********************************************* Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773 Carlisle, PA 17013 Office: (717) 245-1562, Fax: (717) 245-1971 Webpage: www.dickinson.edu/~helwegm ********************************************* --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
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