Discussion

In the January 2002 issue of Studies in Philosophy and Education, Erevelles (Voices of Silence) argues that recent debates over a means of communication known as facilitated communication reveal a tendency by virtually all discussions to ``uphold traditional notions of autonomy.' While agreeing with Erevelles' basic critique concerning the societal dominance of the notion that independent agency resides in the individual, the author points out that Erevelles' case would be considerably more compelling, and also more sympathetic to the struggles of people with disabilities who use facilitation to communicate, were her analysis to include a detailed accounting of the ``evidence' that objectivists find inconvenient and not worth mentioning.