| dbo:abstract
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- There have been instances in which a person, through facilitated communication (FC), seems to disclose experiences of abuse. Often, the alleged abuse is sexual and contains "extensive, explicit, pornographic details". While facilitators are taught to expect their communication partners to reveal sensitive, personal issues, researchers find that facilitators involved in this type of case mistakenly suspect abuse by family members or others. In 1993, Frontline's "Prisoners of Silence" featured the story of Gerry Gherardi of North Carolina who was accused, through FC-generated messages, of sexually abusing his son. Despite protestations of innocence, Gherardi was forced to stay away from his home for six months. The charges were dropped when court-ordered double-blind tests showed that Gherardi's son could not write. In the same year, Bernard Rimland reported in a The New York Times article that he knew of about 25 cases where families were accused through facilitated communication of sexually abusing their children. By 1995, there were sixty known cases, with untold numbers of others settled without reaching public visibility. Since then, the number of cases continues to increase. In addition to accusations of sexual abuse, facilitators, reportedly, have developed sexual feelings for their communication partners and, relying on FC for consent, initiated sexual, physical contact with people in their care, raising serious ethical and legal problems for facilitators, protective service agencies, law enforcement, court officials, educators, and family members alike. (en)
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| rdfs:comment
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- There have been instances in which a person, through facilitated communication (FC), seems to disclose experiences of abuse. Often, the alleged abuse is sexual and contains "extensive, explicit, pornographic details". While facilitators are taught to expect their communication partners to reveal sensitive, personal issues, researchers find that facilitators involved in this type of case mistakenly suspect abuse by family members or others. (en)
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