e of reasoning why it may still be true. For example, when presented with the data collected by a double-blind study he has the following reasons it may have turned up such negative results: a “test” is a confrontational situation and the patients may have been uncomfortable “proving themselves.” He said it is possible that patients and/or facilitators may have frozen when asked to perform for researches. He also claimed that many patients experience severe “word forming” problems. By this he meant that, although the patient may recognize the object, he may be unable to retrieve its name from memory. Each of these could be true. However, to a person looking objectively, Dr. Biklen is clearly attempting to justify a persistent belief.Many parents had stories about children using facilitated speech. One woman believes despite evidence because she has seen her daughter make up words for objects she doesn’t know the name. Her belief has been discredited, but she has found a reason it might be true.Another concept illustrated is that of the Confirmation Bias. It is defined as “a tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions” and is very similar to belief perseverance in the case of Prisoners of Silence. In this case, the participants of facilitated speech are much more inclined to verify instead of disprove their belief that it is an effective tool for working with autism.The strongest example of this is illustrated by one of the teacher/facilitators interviewed in the film. After having had all her facilitators tested and evidence completely proved the communication to be one-sided, she was able to admit that she had seen signs that it was possibly unreal. She was not able to admit it. Instead, she began looking for further verification. She was obviously able to find a sufficient amount for her to no longer concern herself with the hints she h...
