In this first part of a two-episode interview, trauma-informed speech-language pathologist Kim Neely speaks with Janice Bon—artist, educator, and former speech clinician—about her firsthand experience using facilitated communication (FC) in the 1990s and her later decision to publicly speak out against it.

Janice shares how she became involved in FC during a period of rapid change in special education, inclusion, and communication practices, and how the training, messaging, and psychology surrounding facilitated communication shaped her beliefs at the time. Together, Kim and Janice explore how FC was introduced in schools, why it initially felt compelling to helping professionals, and how concerns about authorship, cueing, and ethics emerged through research and real-world consequences.

This episode examines facilitated communication through a trauma-informed lens—focusing not on blame, but on understanding how well-intentioned clinicians, educators, and caregivers can be drawn to approaches that promise access, competence, and connection. Topics include the history of FC, the evolution into newer facilitator-influenced techniques (such as spelling to communicate and rapid prompting methods), the role of “don’t test, presume competence” messaging, and the ethical implications for SLPs and other helping professionals.

This conversation is especially relevant for speech-language pathologists, educators, AAC professionals, therapists, and students navigating evidence-based practice, neurodiversity-affirming care, and clinical decision-making in emotionally complex systems.

Part two will continue the discussion with a deeper focus on ethical implications, current resurgences of facilitator-influenced methods, and how professionals can critically evaluate communication practices while maintaining compassion and humility.

FIND AND CONTACT JANYCE HERE: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/

*** ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF MY PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/B9E36 ***

About:

The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)

Our email

YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents

Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP

Janyce's References:

• Four in the Bedroom: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/four-in-the-bedroom-lamentations-or-exploitation-of-non-speaking-individuals
• Abdication Patterns in Individuals Being Facilitated:: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/abdication-patterns-in-fced-individuals-a-review-of-bebko-perry-and-bryson-1996
• James Randi (Magician/Skeptic): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/a-magician-cannot-dispute-fc-or-can-he
• Types of Facilitator Behaviors (Across FC/S2C/RPM): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog...

• (00:00:00) - A Safe Place for Trauma Informed SLPs
• (00:05:14) - Janyce Boynton on Confronting Facilitated Communication
• (00:11:10) - Exploring Facilitated Communication
• (00:19:53) - Facilitated Communication: Should We Include FC in our Training?
• (00:25:54) - No double-checks for communication
• (00:31:27) - facilitators and facilitated communication
• (00:44:45) - Participants in Facilitated Communication (FC)

Here's my truama-informed critique of the Telepathy Tapes podcast. In this episode, I unpack how telepathy claims about non-speaking autistic people intersect with facilitated communication, dehumanization, and inspiration-porn narratives. It highlights ethical and practical concerns around FC-style communication modalities, ideomotor effects, and the need for independent AAC access and communication safety. Listeners gain alternative, evidence-aligned explanations for “mind-reading” stories and are invited to examine internalized ableism and magical-disability tropes so they can advocate for more humanizing, autonomy-supporting AAC practices.

For any helping professional out there (but especially my fellow SLPs):

*** ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF MY PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/B9E36 ***

YouTube channel episode of my response: https://youtu.be/tgNmIDtzJpw (like and subscribe if you like it!)

About:

The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)

Our email

YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents

Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP

• (00:00:00) - Re-Release: The Telepathy Tapes
• (00:03:15) - A Place for Burnout and Support
• (00:08:10) - The Telepathy tapes: Red Flags
• (00:14:27) - The Telepathy Tapes Has Close Ties to the Vaccine
• (00:21:15) - The Anti-Vaxx Movement's Dehumanization of Aut
• (00:27:51) - Stigma bias in magical minority tropes
• (00:30:43) - Ideomotor Effect on Bullying
• (00:40:09) - "It's Offensive To Say Autistics Are Smart"
• (00:40:49) - Augumentative Communication
• (00:42:21) - Communication with Non-Speakers
• (00:44:24) - Alternatives to The Liar Theory
• (00:50:38) - Autistic Neurodivergence: Info dumps
• (00:54:08) - Non-Speakers and Their Telepathy
• (00:59:02) - Non-Speakers and Their Communication Rights
• (01:06:19) - A message for those suffering from Burnout

What does trauma-informed care actually mean in practice—and how can you tell when something isn’t trauma informed, even if it’s widely accepted?

In this episode, we're going through common green flags and red flags of trauma-informed care, including bodily autonomy, presumed competence, neurodivergent-affirming approaches, compliance-based models, masking, and how neuroplasticity is often inaccurately used to market not-so-trauma-informed approaches.

****WANNA TAKE PART IN THE FREE PATREON TRIAL in January? Email us here and put "Patreon trial" somewhere in the subject line to get a link.****

About:

The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)

Our email

YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents

Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP

• (00:01:08) - A few announcements
• (00:14:22) - What is trauma-informed care? (Overview)
• (00:24:01) - Definition of trauma (review)
• (00:25:02) - Green flags: Decolonization, DEI, etc...
• (00:29:56) - Why you should use preferred terminology
• (00:32:50) - Limitations of neuroplasticity (a little rant)
• (00:35:09) - Red flags: Compliance based approaches, teaching masking only, etc...
• (00:45:53) - Red flags: Ignoring your own needs!!
• (00:49:05) - Thought exercises
• (00:53:13) - Conclusion and wrap-up