"Not being able to speak is not the same as not having anything to say"

Rosemary Crossley

Founder of Facilitated Communication

Wellspring Guild Teaches

We teach Facilitated Communication (FC) an alternative form of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Like AAC, FC addresses the needs of people who cannot speak, or whose speech is minimal or ineffective. For many AAC users, access to devices for communication is challenged by movement differences and this is true for FC as well. 

Facilitated Communication (FC) is a support strategy that assists individuals in using their hands to access communication targets. Facilitated Communication Training  involves providing physical support—typically a backward, resistive pull on the communicator’s arm—to help them more effectively and reliably use a communication device, such as a letterboard, keyboard, or iPad.

Wellspring Guild teaches Facilitators/Communication Partners, Coaches and Trainers to responsibly and effectively use the method to develop communication, according to the guidelines of best practice. The long-term goal for FC is independence, and that goal is uniquely connected to individual profiles, needs, and having a committed support team (family, staff, teachers, therapists).

My Happy Discovery Of Supported Typing

Typer, David D'Muhala, created this film to explain what Facilitated Communication is and how it impacted his life. 

Communicators

"The reality of my life is that I need help to be in the world, but I don’t need help to think”   

Eytan N. - Communicator



"This was a life changing course to take. My only regret is not learning about it sooner for my son. I look forward to this journey and learning and growing along with my son..."

Families

Professionals

"Thank you so much for this! I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot that will help me as a researcher and (hopefully) a facilitator."

Wellspring Guild is a network of Communicators, Families, Professionals, Facilitators, Coaches and Trainers dedicated to Best Practice of Facilitated Communication (FC) training.

Through this network, our goal is to expand resources for training around the country by offering programs for experienced Facilitators to become Coaches and Trainers.

Typing To Communicate

Wretches & Jabberers

In "Wretches & Jabberers", a film by Geradine Wurzburg,  two men with autism embark on a global quest to change prevailing attitudes about disability and intelligence. With limited speech, Tracy Thresher, 42, and Larry Bissonnette, 52, both faced lives of mute isolation in mental institutions or adult disability centers. When they learned as adults to communicate by typing, their lives changed dramatically. Their world tour message is that the same possibility exists for others like themselves.

See What People Are Saying

See What People Are Saying