April 28th, 2026
Dear CBC News Editorial Staff,
We are writing in response to your article, “‘He deserves to be heard’: Mother fights for non-verbal son to use preferred communication method at school”. The article highlights a family’s experience with the Rapid Prompting Method (RPM), an approach that shares key features with Facilitated Communication – a method which has been widely discredited.
The article describes a mother’s concerns regarding her local school district’s decision to prohibit her nineteen-year-old non-speaking autistic son, Jude, from using an RPM-based spelling board at school. She insists that autistic individuals are not a homogeneous group and that, for Jude, this method enables him to express his thoughts and emotions. According to his mother, Jude has been implementing this system since the age of nine. However, many professionals and advocacy groups are skeptical over the use of RPM due to the absence of robust empirical evidence demonstrating its effectiveness and validity.
Families of children with autism are often presented with a broad array of intervention options, which can be overwhelming. It is therefore essential that they are referred to access approaches grounded in evidence. In the area of communication, for example, the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), as well as other augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems, such as tablet-based communication apps, are supported by a substantial evidence base within both applied behavior analysis (ABA) and speech-language pathology.
At ASAT, we offer a range of accessible, evidence-based resources to assist families in making informed decisions about autism interventions, including communication supports. These include treatment summaries that evaluate the quality of evidence behind commonly promoted approaches, clinical corner articles that translate research into practical guidance, and regularly updated materials that help families distinguish between evidence-based, emerging, and unestablished or ineffective interventions. By providing clear, research-informed content, ASAT aims to empower parents and caregivers to select approaches that are both effective and aligned with their child’s communication, learning, and quality of life outcomes. We hope you will consider sharing this information with your readers.
Sincerely,
Eli Allen, ASAT Extern, BS, Psychology
Erin Leif, PhD, BCBA-D
