An examination of Facilitated Communication through the use of eye-tracking and video analysis: the potential for eye-gaze communication for people with disabilities

Résumé fourni par la source

Facilitated Communication is a controversial technique initiated by practitioners working with people with learning disabilities. Proponents of the technique claim that people with severe communication impairments, who do not have independent pointing skills for communication, can significantly increase their ability to communicate when given physical support by a skilled facilitator. There has been extensive research to investigate whether these claims are valid, most of which has indicated that it is not, and which has frequently attributed the phenomenon to the unwitting influence of the facilitator over the communicator. A recent research project has used eye-tracking technology to investigate the link between looking and pointing. If communicators are found to look at letters they subsequently point to, before moving towards them, this would indicate their active participation in the process. This could also have implications for the use of eye-gaze technology as a means of communication for severely disabled people.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.