This is absolutely insane

Bifflefan

Bifflefan

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Re: This is absolutely insane

WOW...
I am sure i would have gone completely insane long before they found out.
 
puddle jumper

puddle jumper

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Re: This is absolutely insane

I couldn't imagine being that paralyzed. I just could imagine the frustration he must of had.
 
tashasdaddy

tashasdaddy

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Re: This is absolutely insane

that's why i want atleast a second opinion.
 
lowkee

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Re: This is absolutely insane

Fearing retribution, the doctors who misdiagnosed him disabled the "Twitch pinky twice for murderous rampage" feature from the computer interface.

Given that many years, you would hope he would wake up to say "About time! I have invented tons of things and can finally share them!"
 
R

rbh

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Re: This is absolutely insane

Was this the guy pounding SOS out on his pillow with his head:eek:
 
G

greggholmes

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Re: This is absolutely insane

http://news.discovery.com/human/belgian-man-coma-consciousness.html

this is the rest of the story they left out..

"Arthur Caplan, a bioethics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said he is skeptical of Houben's ability to communicate after seeing video of his hand being moved along the keyboard.

"That's called 'facilitated communication,'" Caplan said. "That is ouija board stuff. It's been discredited time and time again. When people look at it, it's usually the person doing the pointing who's doing the messages, not the person they claim they are helping."

"Caplan also said the statements Houben allegedly made with the computer seem unnatural for someone with such a profound injury and an inability to communicate for decades."
 
marlboro180

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Re: This is absolutely insane

I just had to send this on to my wife, who is quite familiar with such circumstances. She is an nurse practitioner in a top rated physical medicine/ rehab unit, dealing with varying injuries and illnesses, including Level 1 trauma patients. Spinal cord and spasticity patients are her specialty, along with poor folks who are in the aforementioned mans situation. Here was her response :

Quote:

Whether or not he is communicating at that level is of question, but we regularly treat "locked in" patients. It's a all to frequently occurring phenomena where all motor abilities (except breathing and heart rate) are disabled, but brain function is intact. Occasionally these patients can move their eyes, but can not blink on command so communication is impossible.
We try to do brain wave analysis on patients after a period of time precisely because of this, but there is no known recovery........

We are truly blessed for all we've been given! *** end quote.

I would surely not want to be in his situation.
 
lowkee

lowkee

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Re: This is absolutely insane

I'm a bit confused on the entire "his brain works, but he can't communicate" issue. There have been brain-PC interfaces for years. Heck, there is even a game controller which works fairly well.. for gaming!

Just one example: http://www.gizmag.com/go/5356/

Explain to me why they are not using a neural interface if they think he is too paralyzed to use a movement inteface? And how would a professor of bioethics not know about such an interface? There is always one self-proclaimed 'expert' willing to say anything to get his name in the papers. Is this guy ones of them? Seems odd an international story would quote a guy from PA, USA about a case not even in the US. Heck, I can quote plenty of attorneys who will say will change signatures while someone is in the hospital are questionable at best.. which is why you have video and witnesses of such an event. Are they inferring a guy coming out of a 22 year "coma" making his first communication ever had only one person moving his hand and nobody watching it happen?
 
Tacklewasher

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Re: This is absolutely insane

greggholmes said:
http://news.discovery.com/human/belgian-man-coma-consciousness.html

this is the rest of the story they left out..

"Arthur Caplan, a bioethics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said he is skeptical of Houben's ability to communicate after seeing video of his hand being moved along the keyboard.

"That's called 'facilitated communication,'" Caplan said. "That is ouija board stuff. It's been discredited time and time again. When people look at it, it's usually the person doing the pointing who's doing the messages, not the person they claim they are helping."

"Caplan also said the statements Houben allegedly made with the computer seem unnatural for someone with such a profound injury and an inability to communicate for decades."
Click to expand...


This can be controlled for pretty simply.

See http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/11/rom_houben_is_still_a_victim.php for a couple of suggestions.

1. Find someone who does not know Flemish, as that is the patients language

2. Show the information to the patient only, not the communicator.

The more I read on this the more it looks to be a scam of some sort.
 
T

thefairlaneman

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Re: This is absolutely insane

This is one reason why people should always go to the hospital and be checked after an accident. Even a mild concussion can have delayed effects and you dont have to be knocked out to receive one.
 
skargo

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Re: This is absolutely insane

thefairlaneman said:
This is one reason why people should always go to the hospital and be checked after an accident. Even a mild concussion can have delayed effects and you dont have to be knocked out to receive one.
Click to expand...

So right! I've had 2 I know of and neither time was I unconscious.
 
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