An assessment approach to abuse allegations made through facilitated communication

Over the last few years a number of cases have been reported in which accusations of sexual abuse have been made through the medium of facilitated communication. Although experimental evaluations of facilitated communication indicate that responses are almost always under the control of the facilitator, not the client, such allegations cannot be ignored. The following case study describes the procedures followed when a young girl with autism began to make accusations of abuse against family members. The paper suggests a number of guidelines that might be followed when professionals are faced with dilemmas of a similar kind.