A group therapy program for individuals identified as autistic who are without speech and use facilitated...

The first author directed a group-therapy program of 20 sessions for clients without speech, diagnosed with autism who communicate using facilitated communication. An average of five clients and their facilitators, the leader, and an assistant leader comprised the group. The themes that emerged and the group-development process observed paralleled regular verbal groups in many respects. The success of the project challenges accepted views of person labeled autistic as intractably and inevitably isolated and unreachable.