Douglas Paul Biklen (born September 8, 1945) is an American educator, fine art photographer, leading proponent of facilitated communication, a scientifically discredited technique which purports to allow non-verbal people (particularly those on the autism spectrum) to communicate;^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} and an advocate of educational inclusion. A graduate of Bowdoin College, Biklen joined Syracuse University in 1969 and completed his doctorate there in 1973. He was controversially appointed Dean of the Syracuse University School of Education in 2005 and retired in 2014. Biklen has authored and co-authored several books and served on production teams for several documentary films, including 2004's Autism Is a World.

Biklen served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone during the 1960s,^[8] graduated from Bowdoin College in 1967^[1][9] and received a Doctor of Philosophy from Syracuse in 1973^[10] where he researched intellectual disabilities in individuals in state-run mental hospitals and schools.^[11] Upon completion of his doctorate, Biklen became professor at the Syracuse University the School of Education’s Cultural Foundations, Teaching, and Leadership programs.^[1]

At Syracuse, Biklen founded the Institute on Communication and Inclusion;^{[6][2][7][12]} and was a member of the founding faculty at the Center on Human Policy^[13][12]. In August 2005, Biklen was appointed Dean of the School of Education,^[12] a move that was criticized by the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health^[6] and by members of the special education research community.^[14] He retired at the end of 2014.^[12]

Biklen is a proponent of educational inclusion for students with intellectual disabilities.^[11]

Biklen co-produced the 2004 film Autism Is a World, directed by Geraldine Wurzburg. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject, but its positive portrayal of facilitated communication was criticized by autism researchers.^[7] Gina Green of San Diego State University stated that making a film without "even a hint, much less a disclosure" of the evidence against facilitated communication "is appalling".^[7] Biklen also produced the film My Classic Life as an Artist: A Portrait of Larry Bissonnette at Syracuse University.^[12]

Biklen was an executive producer of the documentary Regular Lives on PBS (1988) and was educational advisor to the HBO documentary Educating Peter and its sequel, Graduating Peter.^[12]

Biklen lives in Orwell, Vermont with his wife, Sari.^[1] He is a fine art photographer whose work has been shown throughout Vermont; in the Syracuse, New York area; and in Melbourne, Australia.^[8]

• Biklen, D. (1985). Achieving the Complete School: Strategies for Effective Mainstreaming. Teachers College Press.
• ––(1992). Schooling Without Labels: Parents, Educators, and Inclusive Education. Temple University Press.
• ––(1993). Communication Unbound: How Facilitated Communication is Challenging Traditional Values of Autism and Ability/Disability. Teachers College Press.
• Biklen, D., & Cardinal, D. N. (1999). Contested words, contested science: Unraveling the facilitated communication controversy. NetLibrary, Inc.
• Kluth, P., Straut, D. M., & Biklen, D. P. (2003). Access to academics for all students: Critical approaches to inclusive curriculum, instruction, and policy. Taylor and Francis.