Gj. Whitehurst et Da. Crone, SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM, POSITIVISM, AND FACILITATED COMMUNICATION - INVITED COMMENTARY, Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 19(3), 1994, pp. 191-195
Facilitated communication, a technique that is said to enhance the com
municative abilities of individuals with severe language impairments,
has engendered much controversy. Biklen and Duchan (1994) and Green an
d Shane (1994) present two sides of this controversy. Biklen and Ducha
n argue that from a constructivist's perspective, the primary issue is
the underlying cultural presuppositions regarding mental retardation
and science rather than the efficacy of facilitated communication. Gre
en and Shane present research evidence challenging the efficacy of fac
ilitated communication within a positivist's framework. We present a b
rief review of science as viewed through positivists' and constructivi
sts' lenses. Using the framework of social constructivism adopted by B
iklen and Duchan, we disagree with them on three points: (a) even thou
gh the process of constructing scientific knowledge is strongly affect
ed by human social, emotional, and cognitive processes, it also involv
es matters of fact that cannot be ignored; (b) social constructivists'
accounts of science can be accepted as descriptive without being pres
criptive; (c) although we cannot prove that belief systems, including
positivism and social constructivism, are true or false in the larger
sense, belief systems have differential consequences for technological
changes of the type that are valued by persons with severe impairment
s of communication.