Blocked and Reported – Premium: The Return Of The Return Of Facilitated Conversation

Hosts: Katie Herzog & Jesse Singal
Date: April 8, 2026
Main Theme:
This episode delves into the controversial resurgence of "facilitated communication" (FC), a widely-debunked technique claimed to help nonverbal, usually autistic, people express themselves—with recent news and cultural flare-ups inspiring the hosts to revisit what makes this topic both fascinating and troubling.

Episode Overview

The hosts, Jesse and Katie, begin with lighter book industry gossip about Lindy West’s latest title before pivoting to recapping their past coverage and personal encounters with facilitated communication. They provide an in-depth, skeptical, and at times irreverent discussion of FC’s origins, its enduring allure, major scandals it spawned (notably the Anna Stubblefield case), and tangential pop culture topics (including Helen Keller skepticism). The conversation is peppered with characteristic banter and dark humor, illustrating both the absurd and tragic elements inherent to FC’s history.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lindy West Book Sales Discourse

• [00:37–04:59]
  • Discussion: Katie shares gossip about disappointing sales figures for Lindy West’s book ("Adult Braces"), as reported by BookScan and industry insiders.
  • Quotes:
    • Katie: "According to Bookscan... sales stand at just over 3,000 copies." [01:18]
    • Jesse (on authorly schadenfreude): "I'm not doing a shot in Friday. Even though Lindy west surely would hate us. I, I don't want her book to have sold that poorly. I don't have it in me." [03:08]
    • Katie: "Sex sells. There's no sex in this book. It's a book about a polycule with zero sex. She should have made it a little bit hotter." [04:35]
  • Insight: Book sales can lag far behind social media discourse and media interviews; controversy doesn’t guarantee strong sales.

2. Jesse’s Tree-Climbing Story (Comic Relief & Social Commentary)

• [05:01–11:14]
  • Jesse recounts witnessing, then following, a botched tree escapade in the Berkeley Hills that required a major rescue operation—drawing parallels with viral online moments and social embarrassment.
  • Notable Quotes:
    • Jesse: "Would you rather be the guy stuck in the tree or the firefighter who has to rescue him?" [08:09]
    • Bystander to Jesse: "Oh, he catted himself." [09:17]
  • Memorable Moment: Katie and Jesse riff on whether the tree-climber was a "furry" or had "catted himself"—injecting Bay Area weirdness and humor.
  • Insight: Even in digression, the hosts tease out implications around shame, rescue, and how random viral events enter the cultural conversation.

3. Facilitated Communication Explained & Debunked

• [11:17–15:16]
  • Brief History & Definition: Katie compares FC to a "Ouija board"—a method by which nonverbal people (typically autistic) supposedly communicate via the physical guidance of a facilitator using keyboards or letterboards.
  • Scandalous History: Jesse recounts the Anna Stubblefield case, where a professor was convicted for a sexual relationship with a disabled man based on FC.
    • Jesse: "This was a scandal because the whole idea was that you had people who appeared to be non verbal and...the idea was that they really could communicate, but they just needed some help with the fine motor skills of typing something out..." [11:59]
    • "This was one of the more spectacular and disturbing cases...because it got to that whole question of like, are you actually communicating with the Person...or could the person be unduly influencing?" [13:17]
  • Related Pop Culture: The hosts reference the "Telepathy Tapes" podcast, which took FC to extremes, with parents believing their nonverbal children are telepathic and communicating via "typing."
  • Skeptical Tone: Both hosts describe FC as widely debunked, express concern over its persistence, and mock newer iterations (e.g., claims of telepathy).
  • Insight: The enduring appeal of FC reflects deep anxieties about disability, communication, and wishful thinking among caregivers and professionals—even in the face of empirical evidence.

4. Helen Keller Skepticism & Taboos Around Disability

• [15:16–16:37]
  • Controversial Take: Katie floats the idea that parts of Helen Keller’s story might have functioned like FC—with skepticism about Keller's abilities given her early loss of sight and hearing.
  • Quotes:
    • Katie: "Do you think it is possible that Helen Keller was a type of facilitated communication?" [14:39]
    • Katie: "How would you know that language exists? How would you have a monologue?" [15:16]
    • Jesse: "You think Helen Keller was a fraud." [14:55]
  • **Hosts acknowledge the likely backlash, but debate persists.
  • Insight: The deeply emotional charge around disability success stories can make scrutiny taboo, even where magical thinking may be at play.

5. Why Facilitated Communication Is Back in Public Discourse

• [16:37]
  • Jesse sets up the main investigative theme: "Why is this subject coming up again? Why is facilitated communication back in our corner of the discourse...?"
  • [Segment ends here due to preview cut-off.]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Katie (on book discourse):
  "So 3,000 book sales. There have been way more than 3,000 substacks about this." [03:35]

• Jesse (on rescue drama):
  "I would much rather be the firefighter. I feel bad for the firefighters, but the level of embarrassment..." [08:10]

• Katie (setting up FC):
  "Facilitated communication is like imagine a Ouija board and you have an autistic person on one. On one end of the Ouija board." [11:26]

• Jesse (on Anna Stubblefield):
  "She was a former philosophy professor at Rutgers Newark...She herself was a facilitated communicator. She was convicted of sexual assault after admitting to a sexual relationship with a disabled young man..." [12:44]

• Katie (skeptical of inspirational narratives):
  "I'm a little skeptical that she [Helen Keller] was actually a communist. Continue." [16:29]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:37–04:59] – Lindy West book sales and publishing industry banter
• [05:01–11:14] – Jesse’s tree rescue story (comic thread)
• [11:17–15:16] – Facilitated Communication: definition, history, and critique
• [15:16–16:37] – Helen Keller skepticism and taboo analysis
• [16:37–end] – Teaser for next section: FC’s resurgence in the discourse

Overall Tone and Takeaway

The discussion blends darkly comic observations with critical skepticism around both the publishing world and persistent pseudoscientific fads in disability advocacy. Jesse and Katie’s banter keeps things engaging while laying bare the problematic underpinnings and real-world harms of facilitated communication and similar phenomena.

To hear more—including the deeper dive into why facilitated communication has reemerged—visit BlockedAndReported.org and become a premium subscriber.