In 2005, he assumed leadership of the Center for Communication Enhancement (which encompassed the old CEC and five other programs), a role he continues to hold as of February 2016[update].
[3][6] For his lifetime achievements at Boston Children's Hospital, Shane was awarded the Center for Communication Enhancement's inaugural Directorship Chair in 2015.
"[10] The systems have become so refined that a person does not need dexterity to activate a computer on their own and select letters, words or pre-programmed phrases from a screen.
Finger twitches, head nods and eye blinks, as well as the spoken voice for those with that ability, are all that is required for individuals to communicate independently.
Other team members included Allen Field from Boston Children's Hospital [citation needed], Katharyn Dawson, a speech and language pathologist, and Don Ricciato, principal of the school.
At the time, Shane had more than 30 years experience assisting people with autism and, as a result, had developed computer software specifically designed to "boost verbal communication skills" using visual information.
[17] The curriculum makes use of communication technology, including the iPad, which allows people with autism to engage in visual activities that aid in the development of language skills.
"[19] With Christina Yu (Boston Children's Hospital) and Human–computer interaction scientist Mauricio Fontana de Vargas, Shane created the first artificial intelligence augmentative and alternative communication application for autistic users.
QuickPic greatly accelerates the generation of vocabulary sets relevant to a given image, a useful tool used by speech language pathologists to teach grammar.
[22] In an interview with Susan Gerbic, Shane says that he first learned of FC in Sweden, when he attended an International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) conference where Rosemary Crossley gave a speech.
[23] He questioned claims from promoters that individuals with severe disabilities, some as young as 5 or 6 years old, without formal training in reading or written language could produce messages that included "perfectly spelled sentences" and whether or not the communications were originating from the children or the adult facilitators.
"[35] Facilitator Boynton, realizing she had been the one doing the communication pressured her school administration to err on the side of caution and end the practice of FC.
[36] With regard to the ideomotor phenomenon and FC, the facilitators become so absorbed in the typing process, they are unaware of their own movements while holding onto their disabled communication partner.
Donald P. Oswald, who reviewed The Facilitated Communication: Clinical and Social Phemenon,[30] praised the book for its "valuable perspectives on the FC story", citing chapters written by Jon Palfreman, Gina Green, Wolf Wolfensberger, Barry Prizant, and Shane that provide a "preliminary retrospective of the FC fad in the United States", but criticized the book for its sometimes "dispassionate discourse."
He wrote: The authors in this work occasionally reveal the personal distress they have experienced and as a result, at times the tone of their writing is defensive or aggressive.
Nonetheless, this book offers valuable perspectives on the FC story and, depending on the reader's personal position, will stimulate, enlighten and, at times, enrage.