Which type of communication involves a person providing assistance to a student by pointing to symbols or letters?

Which type of communication involves a person providing assistance to a student by pointing to symbols or letters?

• A. Augmentative Technology
• B. Expressive Language
• C. Functional Language
• D. Facilitated Communication

Answer: (D)

Facilitated Communication is an aided approach in which someone else provides physical support to help the learner indicate symbols or letters. The facilitator might guide the student’s hand to point to items on a symbol board or to spell with letters, making communication possible for someone who cannot reliably produce it alone. This distinguishes it from independent use of augmentative technology or other AAC tools the person can operate without ongoing touch from another person. It’s also different from simply expressing with spoken or signed language, which doesn’t specify the need for a helper to cue or direct movements. While this method has been used in the past, concerns about who is authoring the message have led many professionals to prefer other AAC approaches that reduce facilitator influence.

Facilitated Communication is an aided approach in which someone else provides physical support to help the learner indicate symbols or letters. The facilitator might guide the student’s hand to point to items on a symbol board or to spell with letters, making communication possible for someone who cannot reliably produce it alone. This distinguishes it from independent use of augmentative technology or other AAC tools the person can operate without ongoing touch from another person. It’s also different from simply expressing with spoken or signed language, which doesn’t specify the need for a helper to cue or direct movements. While this method has been used in the past, concerns about who is authoring the message have led many professionals to prefer other AAC approaches that reduce facilitator influence.