The rapid prompting method (RPM) is a pseudoscientific technique that attempts to aid people with autism or other disabilities to communicate through pointing, typing, or writing.
As noted by Stuart Vyse, although RPM differs from facilitated communication in some ways, "it has the same potential for unconscious prompting because the letter board is always held in the air by the assistant.
"[9] Critics warn that RPM's over-reliance on prompts (verbal and physical cuing by facilitators) may inhibit development of independent communication in its target population.
[12][13] Vyse has noted that rather than proponents of RPM subjecting the methodology to properly controlled validation research, they have responded to criticism by going on the offensive, claiming that scientific criticisms of the technique rob people with autism of their right to communicate,[9] while the authors of a 2019 review concluded that "...until future trials have demonstrated safety and effectiveness, and perhaps more importantly, have first clarified the authorship question, we strongly discourage clinicians, educators, and parents of children with ASD from using RPM.
[2][12] RPM facilitators "presume competence" in their (often nonspeaking) communication partners; the assumption being that people with autism "are likely to possess considerable hidden knowledge that they cannot express" and that prompting will address these individuals' hypothesized difficulties with motor planning[1] and self-stimulatory behaviors.
Practitioners appear to be self-taught or have participated in workshops and camps offered by Mukhopadhyay, Heather Clare (Informative Pointing), or Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Angelman Program (Alphabet Therapy).
[1] Professionals applying for RPM workshops are required to submit 10-min video samples of the use of rapid prompting, a resume, and a letter explaining the "reason for wanting to attend course".
[8] By trial and error, Mukhopadhyay combined various behavioral and communication techniques to help her son, Tito, who has a diagnosis of autism and exhibits limited speaking abilities.
[1] Proponents of RPM and related techniques claim to be able to help people with disabilities express untapped intellectual abilities and advance communication skills through a system of pointing, typing, or writing with verbal and physical prompts from a facilitator.
[2] In 2001, Mukhopadhyay brought RPM to the United States, in conjunction with a fellowship from the Cure Autism Now Foundation,[2] led by Portia Iversen and Jon Shestack.
This is due to the risk of facilitator influence/authorship as well as the potential to displace efforts to access scientifically valid communication modes, such as those associated with the field of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).It is the position of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) that use of the Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) is not recommended because of prompt dependency and the lack of scientific validity.
IASLT wish to put on record our position in relation to this method - primarily our concern that there is no evidence to support its use.There is a lack of substantive research evidence demonstrating that FC and RPM are valid forms of augmentative or alternative communication ... Research studies show that facilitators consciously and/or unconsciously influence the message being communicated ... thereby exposing people with communication disorders to risk of harm by preventing genuine self-expression ... For these reasons, SAC members and associates should not use FC and RPM in clinical practice.RPM proponents point to one study to support their claims of efficacy: "Harnessing repetitive behaviours to engage attention and learning in a novel therapy for autism: An exploratory analysis, as proof of the method's efficacy".
[2] Jaswal et al. also continued the pattern of proponents studying the issue of agency in the use of RPM by using indirect, rather than direct (message passing) methodologies.
[1] Facilitators, sympathetic to the RPM goals of ensuring student success, may unknowingly, unintentionally, or unconsciously move the letter board to achieve the desired communication outcome.
[2][12] In order to point, type or write using RPM, people with disabilities rely on an aide or facilitator to give verbal or gestural prompts and/or hold a letter board during the sessions, which precludes independent communication.
[1] Some of the verbal and gestural prompting procedures used in RPM are similar to the Pinchbeck Technique used by conjurers to "create the illusion of letter-by-letter communication.
[1][28] Likewise, there is no purposeful or systematic fading of prompts with RPM,[2] though research-based techniques exist to support transference of prompt-reliant behaviors to "naturally occurring discriminitive stimuli".
[12] This reliance on prompts creates a dependency that, essentially, reduces independent communication and increases the chances that the facilitators are authoring the messages.
"[7][28] Other similarities between RPM and FC include: reluctance or refusal to test facilitator/client pairs in controlled settings (purportedly because the process breaks the trust between the pair), presumed competence, reliance on anecdotal accounts as proof of efficacy, maintenance of practices, techniques and claims that are inconsistent with the known body of work around the behavior and communication skills of individuals with developmental disabilities or proven remediation techniques, claims of extraordinary literacy or intellectual breakthroughs, unconscious verbal or physical cuing by facilitators to obtain the expected responses, inadequate or non-existent protocols to fade supported or facilitated prompts.