Douglas Biklen

Douglas Paul Biklen (born September 8, 1945) is an American educator best known for promoting the discredited technique of "facilitated communication",[1][2][3][4][5][6] an augmentative and alternative communication technique for people with communication impairments, particularly autism.

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, critics claim that what the client types is actually produced by the facilitator, and this has been demonstrated in numerous scientific publications.[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; none of these studies have been reviewed by scientific parties in severe disabilities.

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 such as Gina Green of San Diego State University. Green 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 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. 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

  1. ↑ Lilienfeld; et al. "Why debunked autism treatment fads persist". Science Daily. Emory University. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Editorial Board. "Syracuse University's reinforcement of facilitated communication inexcusable, concerning". The Daily Orange. Syracuse University. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 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. Taylor & Francis Group. 6 (1): 36–57. doi:10.1080/17489539.2012.704738. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  4. 1 2 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. American Psychological Association,Inc. 50 (9): 750–765. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.50.9.750.
  5. ↑ Facilitated Communication: Sifting the Psychological Wheat from the Chaff. American Psychological Association. June 13, 2016.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Hall, Genae A. (1993). "Facilitator Control as Automatic Behavior: A Verbal Behavior Analysis" (PDF). The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. 11: 89–97. doi:10.1007/bf03392890. PMC 2748555. PMID 22477083.
  8. ↑ Mann, Lisa Barrett (February 22, 2005). "Oscar Nominee: Documentary or Fiction?". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice". srmhp.org. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Dismay over Syracuse Appointment of Dean". SpedPro.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.