Biography:Douglas Biklen
Douglas Paul Biklen (born September 8, 1945) is an American educator best known for "facilitated communication",[1][2][3][4][5][6] a scientifically discredited technique which purports to allow non-verbal people (particularly those with autism) to communicate. Biklen learned of work of Rosemary Crossley and developed the theory of facilitated communication in Melbourne, Australia and exported it to the United States. According to this theory, some individuals whose communication is hindered by developmental coordination disorder can communicate with the aid of a facilitator, who supports the patient's hand while he or she types words on a keyboard. However, studies have repeatedly found that the messages produced through facilitated communication are authored by the facilitator, rather than the disabled person.[3][4][7] In all controlled studies where clients and facilitators are given different information (shown two different objects, for example) what is typed responds to what is seen by the facilitator, not the client.
Biklen co-produced the 2004 film Autism Is a World, directed by Geraldine Wurzburg. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject, but its positive portrayal of facilitated communication was criticised by autism researchers. Gina Green of San Diego State University stated that making a film without "even a hint, much less a disclosure" of the evidence against facilitated communication "is appalling".[8] Biklen also produced the film My Classic Life as an Artist: A Portrait of Larry Bissonnette at Syracuse University.
Biklen has worked at Syracuse University since 1969 and founded the university's Facilitated Communication Institute in 1992. Following Burton Blatt as Dean, Biklen has been university leadership[clarification needed] with the Center on Human Policy since its inception. In August 2005, Biklen became Dean of the School of Education. The appointment was criticised by the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health[9] and by some members of the special education research community.[10]
Biklen and his faculty have received support through scientific competitions such as the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.[citation needed] Biklen was also a founding member of the International Association of Persons with Severe Handicaps, which has organized special educators across the United States.
References
- ↑ Lilienfeld. "Why debunked autism treatment fads persist". Emory University. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150226154644.htm. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
- ↑ Editorial Board (2016-04-12). "Syracuse University's reinforcement of facilitated communication inexcusable, concerning". Syracuse University. http://dailyorange.com/2016/04/syracuse-universitys-reinforcement-of-facilitated-communication-inexcusable-concerning/. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Todd, James T. (13 July 2012). "The moral obligation to be empirical: Comments on Boynton's 'Facilitated Communication - what harm it can do: Confessions of a former facilitator'". Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention 6 (1): 36–57. doi:10.1080/17489539.2012.704738.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jacobson, John W.; Mulick, James A.; Schwartz, Allen A. (September 1995). "A History of Facilitated Communication: Science, Pseudoscience, and Antiscience: Science Working Group on Facilitated Communication". American Psychologist 50 (9): 750–765. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.50.9.750.
- ↑ Facilitated Communication: Sifting the Psychological Wheat from the Chaff. American Psychological Association. June 13, 2016.
- ↑ Riggott, Julie (Spring–Summer 2005). "Pseudoscience in Autism Treatment: Are the News and Entertainment Media Helping or Hurting?". Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice 4 (1): 58–60. https://www.srmhp.org/0401/media-watch.html.
- ↑ Hall, Genae A. (1993). "Facilitator Control as Automatic Behavior: A Verbal Behavior Analysis". The Analysis of Verbal Behavior 11: 89–97. doi:10.1007/bf03392890. PMID 22477083.
- ↑ Mann, Lisa Barrett (February 22, 2005). "Oscar Nominee: Documentary or Fiction?". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42582-2005Feb21.html.
- ↑ "Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice". srmhp.org. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131112175428/http://www.srmhp.org/0401/media-watch.html. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ↑ "Dismay over Syracuse Appointment of Dean". SpedPro. http://spedpro.org/2005/10/31/dismay-over-syracuse-appointment-of-dean/.
External links
- Syracuse University page
- Facilitated Communication Institute, Syracuse University
- Transcript of Frontline episode "Prisoners of Silence", October 19, 1993
- Response to Frontline show by FC proponents
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