Friday, September 4, 2015

Paralyzed Hand Isn't Paralyzed


I move my "paralyzed" hand consistently. It does sign language (ASL) in the video. I wonder if me doing sign language is related to the bit on Foreign Accent Syndrome. 




Beyond ‘Foreign Accent syndrome,’ ‘Foreign Language syndrome’ https://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/professional/savant-syndrome/whats-new-2015/ 

Beyond ‘Foreign Accent syndrome,’ ‘Foreign Language syndrome’

There have been two instances recently of young men emerging from coma fluently speaking a foreign language.
Ben McMahon had studied Mandarin early in his schooling but never mastered the language. However, in 2014 he emerged from a coma speaking fluent Mandarin as seen in this Mirror online post. Likewise, a British football player awoke from a coma after a serious auto accident speaking fluent French. Again, he had some exposure to French in the past but never spoke it fluently.
Cases of what has been called “foreign accent syndrome” have been reported, wherein people recovered from head injury with a foreign accent, but these cases exceed that with an entirely new fluency in a foreign language. Since these individuals had some exposure to the foreign language in terms of learning, they do not represent genetic memory as such. But the phenomenon of gaining fluency in a foreign language following head injury goes beyond foreign accent syndrome and joins the “acquired savant” category.
—Darold Treffert, MD
 


"But the phenomenon of gaining fluency in a foreign language following head injury goes beyond foreign accent syndrome and joins the “acquired savant” category." I had exposure to sign language prior to any brain injury. I did not use it. I remember it really well.

Before I could say anything, I'd sign letters with my other hand. Nobody knew sign language and it was assumed I was cognitively impaired. There was no sound and movement was seen as reflexive. Don't make assumptions. This isn't reflexive anymore. (I'm using that first hand to poke keys on the computer keyboard.)

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