What Does the Soul Say?: Metaphysical Uses of Facilitated Communication in the Jewish Ultraorthodox Community

Abstract

Facilitated communication (FC), a set of techniques designed to improve the communication skills of children with pervasive developmental disorders, was transformed in the Jewish ultraorthodox community into a mystical device through which autistic children disclose otherworldly messages. We use this case to study the process whereby, in a given historical moment, specific forms of deviance are selected and molded into ritualized moralistic performances through which the values of the community are reasserted. Following a comparison between clinical and metaphysical FC, we explore synchronic and diachronic aspects of the complex relations between the ultraorthodox and the secular society extrapolated from the case. A comparative analysis of FC sessions and exorcistic rituals of dybbuk possession provides a background for proposing a dichotomous model of mystical pathways to the sacred, highlighting the role of deviants in revitalizing religious beliefs.

Cross-Cultural Autism Studies, Neurodiversity, and Conceptualizations of Autism

“…However, a broader cross-cultural literature is growing. Anthropologists and other scholars have investigated autism with particular attention to local particularity in Brazil (Block and Cavalcante 2012), Cuba (Sotgiu et al 2011), France (Chamak 2008;Chamak et al 2010;Chamak and Bonniau 2013;Orchard 2013), India (Daley 2002(Daley , 2004Daley and Sigman 2002;Mehrotra and Vaidya 2008;Sarrett 2015a), Israel (Bilu and Goodman 1997;Vogel andReiter 2003, 2004), Italy (Cola and Crocetti 2011;Sotgiu et al 2011), Morocco (Haldane and Crawford 2010;Hart 2014), Singapore (Poon 2011), South Africa (Grinker et al 2012), and South Korea (Grinker and Cho 2013;Grinker et al 2012;Kang-Yi, Grinker, and Mandell 2013). One goal of this special issue is to stimulate conversation about autism between researchers working in different countries, thereby internationalizing the conversation about autism.…”

Fad, Pseudoscientific, and Controversial Interventions

“…Proponents appear to exploit hyperlexia, the authentic but rare phenomenon of precocious reading by some people with ASD, to argue in support of FC. Other absurd rationales also exist, including supernatural autistic telepathy (Haskew & Donnellan, 1993 ), divine inspiration (Bilu & Goodman, 1997 ) and ASD as a movement disorder (e.g., Biklen, 1993 ;Stubblefi eld, 2011 ). Travers et al ( 2014 ) described how FC proponents have rebranded FC as "supported typing" and portray the technique with tablet computers, exploiting popular beliefs about the benefi ts of touch technology.…”

Facilitated Communication Denies People With Disabilities Their Voice

“…AAC is premised on established scientific theories on the origins of disabilities and communication impairments, emphasizing the complex interplay of genetic, neurological, developmental, and environmental variables, along with crucial early and intensive intervention (e.g., Dawson, 2008). In contrast, FC is premised on unscientific theories that range from absurdly simple (e.g., people with disabilities require FC because they cannot "make their bodies do what they want" [Stubblefield, 2011]) to supernatural (Bilu & Goodman, 1997), which all counter wellestablished conventions of the scientific community on disability etiology.…”