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The Daily OrangeUniversity, Biklen dodge criticism
New dean faces complaints for controversial research
By Heather Collura
Posted: 8/29/05, 10:55 PM EST Section: News
Despite a recent Academy Award nomination, Doug Biklen, dean of the School of Education, is receiving widespread criticism in his recent appoint as head of the college.
Biklen, who has taught at SU for 32 years in the School of Education's Cultural Foundations and Teaching and Leadership programs, and the university itself are being dealt blows by professionals in the education, psychology and science fields for Biklen's research work with facilitated communication, a technique that aims to help autistic children learn how to communicate.
Biklen acknowledges the technique is controversial as facilitators help autistic children communicate by holding their hands while typing and says it can be easy to influence the child's typing.
"We're working towards independent communication or working to improve authorship," Biklen said.
Therefore, he said, the criticism of his appointment as dean doesn't surprise him.
Andrew Skolnick, executive editor and news editor for the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Health, said many leading professionals are disappointed in the university's inadvertent support of this technique by appointing Biklen.
"Facilitated communication is nothing to be proud of," Skolnick said. "It is pseudoscientific therapy or practice that has been thoroughly discredited."
Skolnick referred to the technique as a "hoax" and a "crackpot remedy" and said people advocating the technique are sometimes unknowingly perpetuating a hoax.
"Proponents are clinging to it like flat-earthers," he said.
"Frontline" on PBS did a segment on the technique and showed a child not looking at the computer screen while a facilitator was working with the person.
"My mouth dropped open when I saw it," Skolnick said. "It was so obvious to me that the facilitator was doing the typing."
He also said parents of autistic children can become so desperate when finding ways to help their child that they can be "taken advantage of" by advocates of facilitated communication. He also referred to cases where facilitated communication has proven harmful.
Biklen, who has taught at SU for 32 years in the School of Education's Cultural Foundations and Teaching and Leadership programs, and the university itself are being dealt blows by professionals in the education, psychology and science fields for Biklen's research work with facilitated communication, a technique that aims to help autistic children learn how to communicate.
Biklen acknowledges the technique is controversial as facilitators help autistic children communicate by holding their hands while typing and says it can be easy to influence the child's typing.
"We're working towards independent communication or working to improve authorship," Biklen said.
Therefore, he said, the criticism of his appointment as dean doesn't surprise him.
Andrew Skolnick, executive editor and news editor for the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Health, said many leading professionals are disappointed in the university's inadvertent support of this technique by appointing Biklen.
"Facilitated communication is nothing to be proud of," Skolnick said. "It is pseudoscientific therapy or practice that has been thoroughly discredited."
Skolnick referred to the technique as a "hoax" and a "crackpot remedy" and said people advocating the technique are sometimes unknowingly perpetuating a hoax.
"Proponents are clinging to it like flat-earthers," he said.
"Frontline" on PBS did a segment on the technique and showed a child not looking at the computer screen while a facilitator was working with the person.
"My mouth dropped open when I saw it," Skolnick said. "It was so obvious to me that the facilitator was doing the typing."
He also said parents of autistic children can become so desperate when finding ways to help their child that they can be "taken advantage of" by advocates of facilitated communication. He also referred to cases where facilitated communication has proven harmful.
