Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-57).

Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

This study examines facilitated communication as it was experienced by three people who were affected by acquired brain injury. Facilitated communication is a type of augmentative communication purported to allow persons with a severe communication impairments to communicate. The assumption is made that people with global apraxia can communicate if given physical support. The technique usually involves a facilitator providing physical support to the arm, hand or elbow of the person with the severe communication impairment to assist them to point to objects, pictures, printed letters and words or to a keyboard. Facilitated communication is a controversial method because it is difficult to establish the existence, or extent of the facilitator's influence in the communication of the person with a disability. Although much of the research on facilitated communication has been conducted with people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, research on the use of the technique with people with brain injury offers several advantages. Firstly, most people with brain injury were known to be competent communicators prior to the brain injury. Secondly, many recover sufficiently to allow a retrospective examination of the issues that faced them when they were using the technique. Thirdly, there can be a large amount of data available about the person's diagnosis, their prognosis and the course of their history following the event. Consequently, the current study uses a case study methodology to explore the application of facilitated communication with people with brain injury and draws on personal recollections of people with brain injury, interviews with families and medical and therapist reports. The three people interviewed in the study displayed varying language and memory abilities. They indicated a preference for independent communication techniques and they reported frustrations with using facilitated communication. They quickly rejected the method when speech began to appear even though their speech was inadequate for communication purposes, for two of them, for an extended period. One of the interviewees reported that facilitator influence was overwhelming at times but not always present. Two of the interviewees felt that facilitated communication gave them a start in their recovery process. Two of the interviewees reported that meaningful exchanges with others occurred only with speech. In addition to these findings the study, although not experimental, was able to shed light on some of the contentious issues surrounding facilitated communication. The method is reported to be designed to overcome the motor difficulties of the disabled communicator by providing physical assistance to individuals with poor fine motor control thus breaking the perseveration cycle that can be present . However the task of coping with facilitator influence may actually require some motor skills. Also, the physical effort involved in using facilitated communication for some individuals may have been underestimated by its supporters. However the study has shown that some individuals with severe communication impairments felt that facilitated communication had some merit but saw their ability to communicate independently as the significant achievement in their recovery.

Thesis (MEdPsych) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study addresses the role and person of the facilitator of a Christian teen discussion group. From the literature study it is evident that there are specific requirements concerning the role and person of the facilitator of a teen discussion group. These requirements and definitions should only serve as guidelines for the success of a teen discussion group The empirical study investigated the role and person of the facilitator of a teen discussion group. According to the results it seems that the most important characteristics of a facilitator, according to the teen discussion groups, are that of warmth as a person, caring and insight and that he must be a role model. The study also showed that the role and person of a facilitator of a teen discussion group to a great extent contributes to the success of these groups. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie is die rol en persoon van die fasiliteerder van n Christelike tienergespreksgroep ondersoek Uit die literatuurstudie blyk dit dat daar baie spesifieke vereistes bestaan wat betref die rol en persoon van die fasiliteerder van "n tienergespreksgroep. Hierdie vereistes en definisies behoort egter net as riglyne te dien vir die sukses van' n tienergespreksgroep. In die ernpmese ondersoek IS die rol en persoon van die fasiliteerder van "n tienergespreksgroep verken. Volgens die resultate blyk dit dat die belangrikste eienskappe van 'n fasiliteerder, volgens die groeplede, is dat hy "n omgee-persoon moet wees wat oor insig beskik, warmte oordra en "n rolmodel moet wees Die ondersoek het verder getoon dat die rol en persoon van die fasiliteerder van' n tienergespreksgroep grootliks bydra tot die sukses van hierdie groepe.

La Communication facilitée (CF), méthode d'écriture accompagnée, pose des questions scientifiques de validité en étant confondue avec la Psychophanie, méthode dérivée et pratiquée en France, ne permettant pas de distinguer qui écrit. Pour identifier l'origine des messages produits en CF et en Psychophanie, il faut distinguer aussi clairement que possible ces deux méthodes. En filmant avec deux caméras les mains et les visages de six facilités, jeunes adultes autistes non verbaux lors de leurs séances habituelles, nous expérimentons progressivement une modulation du soutien psychomoteur et observons que, par exemple, Amar et Brice présentent chacun séparément des corrélations entre comportements, situations et textes écrits dans plus de cinquante extraits vidéo. Nous observons aussi que Brice et Carine, facilités par la même facilitante, ont produit en 14 séances, des phrases dont le nombre n’est pas significativement différent mais dont les durées sont significativement différentes. Dans la seconde partie nous pratiquons des tests de capacité de lecture avec Brice puis de passage de message (message passing procédure) positifs avec sa facilitante et enfin de modulation du soutien avec une instrumentation accélérométrique. L'observation en vidéo de corrélations multimodales, les tests comportementaux en facilitation, les mesures temporelles et accélérométriques nous montrent, en CF, une contribution discernable des facilités qui devient moins ou non discernable en Psychophanie confirmant la nécessité de distinguer la CF, où le facilité contrôle, au moins en partie, le processus d’écriture sur le plan visuo-moteur, de la Psychophanie où le facilité semble ne rien contrôler. / An augmentative and alternative communication method, Facilitated Communication (FC), raises serious questions regarding origin and therefore credibility of the texts produced by persons having autism. This controversy is partly due to confusion between two methods of facilitation: Facilitated Communication and Psychophany (a method derived from FC and mostly used in France). The present exploratory study aims at identifying origin of the messages produced via FC and Psychophany, and at differentiating these two methods. We first analyze systematically clinical video observations of 6 young non-verbal adults with autism, while practicing FC during regular sessions with their facilitators, and while modulating the psychomotor support of the subjects. Fine video analyses from 2 subjects show 39 clear clinical correlations between behaviors and texts are extracted from 7 sessions in one adult (Brice) and 20 correlations from 4 sessions in another adult Amar. Besides, when comparing two subjects, Brice and Carine, who are facilitated by the same facilitator, we show that the number of sentences produced do not differ significantly, whereas the total time of writing differs significantly. In the second study, Brice and his facilitator are studied more deeply through various tests, reading tests, message passing procedure and psychophysical tests using an accelerometer. Results seem to confirm our first ones showing a contribution of the subject, Brice, to the writing process. Our study confirms necessity distinguishing FC, during which the subjects partly control the writing process at visuo-motor levels, from Psychophany where the subjects apparently do not control anything.

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