Larry Bissonnette

Larry John Bissonnette (born 1957 in Winooski, Vermont) is an American autistic artist who starred in two films showcasing his art and travels. 2005 in My Classic Life as an Artist and in 2011 Wretches & Jabberers. Both films have been criticized by the science community for claiming that Bissonnette can communicate through the discredited pseudoscience facilitated communication.

Biography Bissonnette is the son of Albert Bissonnette and his wife Alma Marie, née Bashaw. He has three brothers and sisters. By the time he was eight, he was sent to the Brandon Training School, which was Vermont's only institute for people with intellectual disabilities at the time. In 1991, Bissonnette was introduced to facilitated communication. Although this was quickly discredited as a valid communication technique Bissonnette and his therapists and facilitators continued to use it. Some of his works depict "faces peering through a veil, as if imprisoned". Bissonnette's art is in the collection of the Musée de l'Art Brut in Switzerland.

In media In 2005, Larry starred in his biographical film, My Classic Life as an Artist: A Portrait of Larry Bissonnette.

In 2011, Larry and his ally Tracy Thresher were in a documentary called Wretches & Jabberers, which documented his travels around the world. The film has been criticized for claiming that Bissonnette and Thresher can communicate through facilitated communication.

In 2012, they were both featured in an episode of the National Geographic Taboo television series which was titled "Strange Behavior".