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Facilitated communicators' performance on a task of receptive language

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Abstract

Most controlled studies of facilitated communication (FC) have not validated it. One task, however, on which positive effects of FC have been demonstrated without facilitator influence is the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-R (PPVT-R). The present study investigated if the use of FC could be validated for either a group of subjects with autism or a group with severe to profound cognitive impairments, on the PPVT-R when facilitators were effectively screened from all visual and auditory stimuli. Additionally, the effect of mode of inputauditory or visual-on subjects' performance was investigated. Results did not validate the use of FC for the administration of the PPVT-R nor did they show any notable advantage of one mode of input over another.

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This research was conducted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science degree which was earned by the second author from Illinois State University.

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Beck, A.R., Pirovano, C.M. Facilitated communicators' performance on a task of receptive language. J Autism Dev Disord 26, 497–512 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172272

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