For some people who have profound difficulties speaking, alternative communications systems known as Facilitated Communication and Spelling to Communicate have been developed and the results appear miraculous. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli examine the methods, the claimed results, and the controversy surrounding them.

https://mysterious.fm/370

Further Resources:
• 1993 Frontline documentary Prisoners of Silence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMn_sDCFAuI
• 2023 Spellers documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1rcLyznK0
• The Reason I Jump clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_X8ZDKHryI
• James Todd’s encyclopedia article “Rapid Prompting”: https://www.academia.edu/100473675/Rapid_Prompting
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmentative_and_alternative_communication
• Classic Autism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_autism
• Asperger’s Syndrome: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism
• Savant Syndrome: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savant_syndrome
• Facilitated Communication: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitated_communication
• Rapid Prompting/Spelling to Communicate method: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_prompting_method
• Abuse allegations and Facilitated Communication: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_abuse_allegations_made_through_facilitated_communication
• Ideomotor Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideomotor_phenomenon
• Sabine Hossenfelder’s video on Autism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPDlo5jrhmI
• Kyle Hill’s video on Autism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgV26ol51UM
• Autism Is Not My Superpower’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy38k_e3w8g
• Instagram video of Facilitated Communication: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_-ln0iO6i6/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
• Katharine Beals’s review of Spellers: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/a-review-of-the-movie-spellers-a-documercial-for-spelling-to-communicate