No Need for FC: Bissonnette’s Artwork Stands on its Own

One of our readers asked my opinion about a short film called My Classic Life featuring Vermont artist, Larry Bissonnette. I was aware of Bissonnette because of his participation in the pro-Facilitated Communication (FC) movie Wretches and Jabberers. He was, like others in the film, subjected to FC, despite having the fine and gross motor abilities to shave, use a paintbrush, take pictures with a polaroid camera, pour coffee into a cup, use utensils independently, and more. Bissonnette had limited spoken language abilities and could only produce sophisticated written language when a facilitator, Pascal Cravedi-Cheng (one of Syracuse University’s so-called “master trainers”) held on to his shirt sleeve and cued him to select letters.

I had not seen My Classic Life and was curious to learn more.

Larry Bissonnette independently works on a painting. He has the fine and gross motor skills to use a paintbrush. (Image from My Classic Life, 2007)

My Classic Life (2007) is a pro-FC film, though not overtly. The producers, including Douglas Biklen (founder of the Facilitated Communication Institute at Syracuse University), minimize scenes of facilitation in the movie like good salespeople might when a technique they are using has been discredited.

FC is described in the narration as an “outsider communication technique,” but long before the film’s release date, the scientific community had determined that facilitators, not those being subjected to it, are the likely authors of FC-generated messages. (See Controlled Studies and Systematic Reviews)

In a setting where FC is apparently normalized, the GRACE art workshop, we see Cravedi-Cheng holding onto Bissonnette’s shirt sleeve or wrist to type out letters on a keyboard. They are meeting with Michael Gray, Program Director of the workshop, to “discuss” Bissonnette’s newest artwork. Viewers are led to believe the pseudo-erudite, facilitated narration is Bissonnette’s words read by a skilled reader. This is a dubious claim, especially since, after 10 years of using FC with his client (the Wretches and Jabberers website says Larry started using FC in 1991), Cravedi-Cheng apparently has not been able to fade his “support” when Bissonnette types out responses.

The film, unwittingly perhaps, contradicts proponent claims that their clients have motor planning problems and, therefore, need support from a facilitator—at least with this one individual.

In the opening scene, Bissonnette is shown sawing a thin piece of board that will become part of a frame for one of his art pieces. His attention is focused on the activity and his actions are confident. Later, he is shown using a drill, hammer, and nails to make frames to house his large paintings. There is no doubt that he can complete this activity independently and without the need for redirection or for facilitator influence in manipulating the tools. Sometimes, facilitators stand just outside the camera frame in pro-FC films and visually cue their clients off-screen, but I do not think this was the case in this instance. His sister, in fact, states that “he can do anything with his hands”—including sewing curtains by hand—and that he “likes to construct.”

Likewise, Bissonnette is shown painting a large canvas, using a paintbrush or colored pencils, and selecting colors independently. His brush strokes are admirably loose. Many of the finished pieces contain his name, printed in large, loose brush strokes consistent with the rest of the paintings. Although the film did not show him writing his name, which he may or may not know how to write independently, it appears that he can at least copy letters.

Larry Bissonnette sawing pieces of wood for frames. (Image from My Classic Life, 2007)

In addition, Bissonnette is shown taking pictures of people with a Polaroid camera and then later taping the resulting images to his artwork. Again, all with the fine and gross motor skills needed to complete the task independently and without facilitator control.

None of the scenes shown with his sister are facilitated. He responds to her questions with short, verbal answers and follows simple requests. He’s also shown making breakfast, tying his shoes, getting the mail, vacuuming, and performing other day-to-day activities, which, again, runs counter to claims that he has motor planning problems that would prevent him from finding and selecting individual letters on a keyboard.

Viewers learn from Bissonnette’s sister, Sally Verway, that when her brother was eight years old, he went to Brandon Training school in Vermont, where he stayed until he was eighteen years old.

Brandon Training School, formerly known as the Vermont State School for Feeble Minded Children, was a state-funded residential facility founded in 1915. The school closed in 1993 and, during an apparent transition period, Bissonnette was released from the school and put in the Waterbury State Hospital (also known as the Vermont State Asylum), a mental institution built in 1890 located in Waterbury, Vermont.

As Verway, recounts, Bissonnette had been at Waterbury for about a year when she visited him there. At the time, she lived in California. The conditions were terrible. The first words Bissonnette said to his sister were “Sally, Larry go home.”

After he was released from Waterbury, Larry stayed in a supervised apartment, but, when state funding was cut, there was no place for him to go.

Instead of letting the state put her brother in foster care, Verway took him in. At the time My Classic Life was filmed, Bissonnette had lived with his sister in Vermont for four and a half years.

By all accounts, this move to his sister’s home was the best thing for Bissonnette. Verway reports her brother is thriving and happy. And it is obvious from their interactions in the film, Verway supports her brother in every way she can.

I cannot help thinking what shame it is that Vermont decided to cut funding for supervised independent living, which could have real benefits for individuals qualified for the program, but continues to channel money into FC; a technique that builds dependence on facilitators and not independence for those being subjected to it.

The facilitator provides physical cuing at the lower arm during an FC typing session. (Image from My Classic Life, 2007)

There is something about the domestic scenes with Larry’s sister and with him working independently at the studio that make the narration seem “off” somehow. In her conversations with Larry, Sally uses simple sentences and requests that appear commensurate with his understanding of language. She does not “talk down” to him, but she also does not use flowery language.

On the other hand, the FC-generated messages have a weird construct and are, at times, barely understandable (at least to me, anyway).

Here is an example:

“Without art wafting smell of Earth’s pleasures would kite away to land of inanimate objects so it’s past point of personal hobby.”

I know proponents believe these unusual sentence structures “prove” authorship, but out of curiosity, I sent the transcript to Katharine, who has authored several books on language in individuals with autism, asking for her thoughts about the FC-generated narration.

Here is her response:

There are tiny grains of truth from what’s known about language patterns in autism: referring to yourself by your first name; leaving out articles like “a” and “the.” But most of Larry’s quirks are not the kind attested in the autism literature.

The sentence difficulties in autism are mostly about correct word endings, correct use of pronouns, and correct syntax for relative clauses and questions. These sorts of errors tend to sound like non-native speaker errors.

Larry’s language patterns, in contrast, are more like a “style” of communicating, with well-formed sentence parts (e.g., well-formed clauses) but odd word choices and, sometimes, odd positioning of phrases. Sometimes non-native speakers will do things like this, but only because they’re translating from patterns that occur in their native language.

Both of us felt like Bissonnette’s facilitator, perhaps more than any other facilitator of any other person, constructed a distinct persona—including, as Katharine describes, the idiosyncratic sentence structure and referring to himself by his own name.

My question is would Bissonnette sound like his FCed self if a facilitator who did not know anything about him took Cravedi-Cheng’s place for a day?

Overall, I think My Classic Life provides a unique insight into Bissonnette’s life. Some of it is genuine, some of it fabricated using FC.

The film alluded to Bissonnette’s behavioral issues; those common in people with autism (e.g., screaming, limited social skills, echolalic speech, repetitive movements). It would have been helpful to learn from his caretaker and art teacher what adaptations were needed to support Bissonnette’s daily living and artistic endeavors. As successful as Bissonnette seems in a well-edited movie, it seems he thrives best in real life while in a sheltered setting with caretakers providing support as needed. Perhaps, being open about this fact would help persuade lawmakers that support for individuals with profound and life-long disabilities is sorely needed.

My final thoughts on this film are that Bissonnette, as an artist, shows an intelligence that has nothing to do with whether he can read or write. He expresses himself in other ways that include spoken language, non-verbal communication, and mixed media artwork. It seems a bit disingenuous of the film’s producers to downplay these accomplishments by using FC-generated messages to narrate the film. To me, Bissonnette’s work stands on its own and needs no further explanation.

Recommended Reading:

Beals, K. (2022). Cutting-Edge Language and Literacy Tools for Students on the Autism Spectrum. IGI Global. ISBN: 9781799894438

Beals, K. (2022). Students with Autism: How to Improve Language, Literacy, and Academic Success. John Catt Educational. ISBN: 9781915261373

Questions about Wretches and Jabberers