Another option is to write your Senator; here's my letter (I also sent a copy to Obama):
> Dear Senator Klobuchar: > > I have some serious concerns about the nomination of Dr. Sanjay > Gupta as Surgeon General, centering on his advocacy on CNN of a > questionable form of treatment for autism called Facilitated > Communication. > > First of all, while autism may (it has not been scientifically > proven) have a medical basis, all currently effective treatments > for it are behavioral in nature, and thus beyond Dr. Gupta’s area > of competence as a physician. > > Second, even if Dr. Gupta were competent in this area, the practice > in question borders on quackery, and preys on the vulnerability of > the parents of autistic children. > > In brief, this treatment assumes that nonverbal autistic children > somehow have within themselves the ability to communicate in a > sophisticated manner, and that all that is needed to enable them to > do this is to have someone ‘facilitate’ this communication by > physically aiding them in manipulating a keyboard or some other > communication device. In practice, this usually involves having > the child position her hands over a keyboard while the facilitator > supports their arm or hand and aids them in pressing keys. The > weakness of this procedure is obvious: it is very easy for the > facilitator to deliberately or unconsciously (the Clever Hans > phenomenon) guide the child’s behavior. > > In fact, it has been demonstrated that when the facilitator does > not know the questions asked of the child, the child’s ability to > communicate disappears, demonstrating that it was the facilitator > that was doing the communicating, not the child. Thus, this is a > cruel hoax perpetrated on the parents of the autistic, and it is > irresponsible of Dr. Gupta to perpetuate it. Essentially, he is > telling these parents that their children are really normal, and > their ability to communicate simply needs to be released. > > This has a cost. By doing so, he encourages people to seek a quick > fix and a magic solution, rather than the time consuming > educational procedures which have been show to be effective in > enabling the autistic to function in society. > > It should also be noted that, as in the similar case of supposedly > repressed memories, the evidence produced by the practitioners of > Facilitated Communication of been the basis for the prosecution of > parents and care takers of autistic children. > > The person responsible for the health of the citizens of these > United States should show more scientific skepticism in the > treatments he advocates, and should be called upon to justify these > actions before being confirmed. > > I should add that there is a superficially similar educational > practice called Augmentive Communication that uses mechanical aids > such as computers to enable variously handicapped individuals to > communicate. This field does not make irresponsible and hyperbolic > claims, and it is clear from Dr. Gupta’s statements that this is > not what he is referring to. > > Dr. Gupta seems able and well qualified medically, and I hope that > this is an aberration produced by his sympathy for a serious > problem and his lack of acquaintance with the treatments that deal > with it effectively. > The onus should be on him to demonstrate that this is so. > > Personal disclaimer: > While I am a psychologist by training (and have been licensed in > the State of Minnesota), I have never been in private practice nor > worked with autistic children, and have no personal stake in the > mode of treatment being offered to them. Nor am I personally > acquainted with Dr. Gupta and have no animus towards him. I simply > feel that the government’s spokesman on health matters ought to > practice a healthy skepticism when recommending health practices. > > I will be glad to provide documentation for my statements, and to > connect you and your staff with professionals who are expert in > this area. > On Jan 16, 2009, at 6:04 PM, Beth Benoit wrote: > Chris, > A thousand thanks for your research. For my part, I researched how > to let Sanjay Gupta know, and found this URL as a way to contact > him - through the CNN website: > http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?67 > > I think this might be a first line of "defense": to ask Sanjay to > reevaluate his approval of FC. > > Here's the second line of defense: email Barack's transition > team. This URL gives you the option on the right of the page, in > "Citizen's Briefing Book" to give your ideas, and "we'll give them > to the President." (I have to assume they mean the wonderful one > coming, and not the present one.) Here's the URL: > http://change.gov/ Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
