Rom Houben reportedly spent some 23 years in a vegetative state before beginning to "communicate" again by moving a single unparalized finger against a screen, His mother, Fina Nicolaes stated that, "Early on, he was surprised that the words came out of his finger. Now, he is busy writing a book."
The so-called method of communication, with the help of a speech therapist holding his hand punching a touch screen is doubted by some authorities, and is stirring controversy only days after the story of his comeback as a fully conscious man entombed in an immobile body captured the world's imagination.
Many scholars doubt the technique of facilitated communication, and bloggers denounce it as a cruel farce, and millions asking as they watch the video of Houben's hand being held as it quickly types into the screen — who is really doing the punching here?
Dr. Steven Laureys understands the questions and said he might ask the same if he did not know the patient. And he said there is only one way to address the doubters — science. "For me, there are two questions: Is he conscious? Can he communicate? That is 'yes' twice," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
Having watched the video, and having worked with many individuals with communication impairments, it is my opinion that this is a case of wishful thinking married to a thought of, "I could make some money here."
Source: examiner.com/
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