23-year coma guy and the fraud of "facilitated communications"

[swag]

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/783-this...

The "facilitated communication" process consists of the "facilitator" actually holding the hand of the subject over the keyboard, moving the hand to the key, then drawing the hand back from the keyboard! This very intimate participatory action lends itself very easily to transferring the intended information to the computer screen. In the video you have just viewed, it is very evident that (a) the "facilitator" is looking directly at the keyboard and the screen, and (b) is moving the subject's hand. The video editing is also biased, giving angles that line up the head of the subject with the screen, as if the subject were watching the screen.

This man in the msnbc.com piece is not seeing the screen. He is not aware of what is going on. He is an unknowing victim of these charlatans. A simple test - such as that done on October 19th, 1993, in a Frontline (PBS) documentary highlighting these concerns, "Prisoners of Silence," would prove that FC is a total fraud. This powerful and comprehensive program proved that FC was a delusion.

Dr. Snyderman, how did this get by you? The evidence is right there on the screen! Others have solved this fraud. The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Association on Mental Retardation, have no doubts about this. ABAI calls FC a "discredited technique" and warns that "its use is unwarranted and unethical." The Association for Science in Autism Treatment reviewed the research and position statements and concluded that the messages typed were controlled by the facilitator, not by the individual with autism, and that FC did not improve language skills.

We critics of FC question why people can apparently give speeches in public - via a keyboard and a "facilitator" - and go to college - similarly "assisted" - yet they cannot answer a series of simple questions under controlled conditions! Psychologist Daniel Wegner, professor of psychology at Harvard University and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science has stated that facilitated communication is a striking example of the ideomotor effect, and tests of FC show that it is a complete fraud, farce, and delusion!

[virgogal]

1. This was proven to be fraudulent years ago.

[swag]

2. I kick this wee thread.

[csziggy]

3. K&R

[Odin2005]

4. Link not working.

[swag]

5. That's the right link.

Looks like the site is being hit pretty hard tonight.

[HughMoran]

6. Aww geez

All the emotion for this fellow here may have been wasted?

[HuckleB]

7. K & R.

[Liquorice]

8. Why is James Randi plagiarizing Wikipedia?

I'm surprised by his behavior, as it is so easy to catch a plagiarist. If you read the research section of Facilitated Communication in Wikipedia, you'll see where he plagiarized it in several places. Sloppy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitated_communication#...

[anigbrowl]

10. It's entirely likely that the wikipedia article is quoting him extensively

The science isn't new and Randi himself isn't exactly the new kid on the block either - he has commented on this stuff before. I find it equally likely that the author of the wikipedia article is a fan of his. I know when I'm arguing with someone on a subject I care a lot about - global warming, say - I tend to repeat the same arguments after a while because they um up my position best or seem to be particularly effective.

[jasi2006]

9. Media doing the bidding of the RW freaks once again. This time

reporting on a discredited method of communication. Trying to redeem their Terry Schivo behavior.

[Celebration]

11. Yeah, since James Randi, MD has examined this patient and has a diagnosis

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/MindMoodNews/doctors-find...

"Steven Laureys of the University of Liege, using modern brain scanning technology unavailable in the 1980s, saw that Houbens' brain lit up with near-normal functioning when he was asked a question."

[Barack_America]

18. That statement is incorrect. The man's brain has PERFUSION...

...i.e. it is receiving blood supply. These test cannot evaluate function.

I've watched several videos of the man and he does have many cranial nerves intact. He can smile (V), He can raise his eyelids (III), etc. He does also appear to have some movement on his right side, though it does not appear to be fine movement. However, his eyes appear to be fixed and deviated to his right, despite having CNIII at least partially intact. Bottom line, I don't see how he is supposedly "communicating" with this person. It certainly doesn't seem to be through eye movements and I didn't see evidence of any arm movements delicate enough to signify actual communication. What's more, in one of the videos I watched, he appears to be sleeping when he is "communicating".

[Celebration]

19. Same thing Frist was critisized for doing

with Terry Schiavo--diagnosing from video.

Oh, the irony................

I will bow to the experts that have actual familiarity with the case.

[Barack_America]

22. If you'll notice, I gave no diagnosis.

That is always useless without actually examining a patient. But describing that someone can blink or smile from a video is a different matter altogether. As to what his precise brain/brainstem lesion is, I have no clue and would not even hazard a guess. But, I'll admit, his case is prompting me to review my med school neurology, which I'm finding enjoyable.

Personally, I'll wait for the evaluation of a neurologist who is not emotionally invested in the man's outcome. It's a lot easier to "see" signs of improvement when you are hoping to see them. An objective opinion (or two) is needed in this case.

[Celebration]

23. that WOULD be helpful--yep! n/t

[mitchum]

12. We professionals call that "hand underhanded assistance"...

rather than "hand over hand assistance"...and I don't do it

[Barack_America]

25. Maybe you can describe how this works.

I'm looking at these videos and I'm having a hard time discerning any movements, either hand or eye, that seem to indicate him communicating with the assister as to what keys to press.

I saw one video where she was helping him communicate, though his eyes were closed.

He is he telling her what he wants to be said?

[mitchum]

26. It doesn't work; it is just deception

The patient is doing nothing. Not instructing or communicating. Nothing. It is a farce.

[Barack_America]

27. Damn. I was hoping you'd advocate for it.

I was hoping to hear the other side of the story.

I too am inclined to believe it's a farce. Perhaps not in all cases, but certainly this one.

[jmondine]

29. I call it the Human Ouija Board

Knowing what I know about the power of suggestion and hypnosis, I have no doubt that there are those who facilitate this who sincerely believe the messages are coming from the patient. Yet, it's equally obvious to me that the patient has nothing to do with the messages coming through.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

13. Wait a minute!

Are you saying the 23 year coma guy was being "assisted" with his computer communication.

I read an article and it only said he was communicating. I wasn't aware he had help. I assumed he was doing a Stephen Hawking type communication.

[moobu2]

14. Terri Schiavo’s parents tried the same type of tactics as well.

The parents would use blinking lights to stimulate an auto reflex in Terri Schiavo, then talk to her, and pretend the reflexive blinking, gurgling sounds and face winces were in response to the conversation.

[moobu2]

15. K&R

[SidDithers]

16. Kick and rec...

Thanks for posting.

Sid

[old mark]

17. Rec'd. I worked for several years with a guy with brain damage who had

been "communicating" with a facilitator. All fake.
It's as big a fraud as I can think of, and I was amazed to see someone using this garbage on the TV report yesterday and some other yahoo "reading" the "messages".

This is the most cynical, evil thing I can imagine.

Nice work, media - sensationalism over facts yet again.
But you all sure look pretty.

mark

[Occam Bandage]

20. "Facilitated Communication" is one of the sickest, most cynical hoaxes in medical history.

It's no more scientific than a Ouija board, and is designed purely to prey on the desperate desires of family members to communicate with those incapable of communication.

[librechik]

21. K&R

[BurtWorm]

24. Who here saw Diving Bell and the Butterfly?

If you saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, you saw a replication of a method a man with locked-in syndrome used to communicate with his therapists, family and editors. In that case, M. Bauby, the patient, was able to dictate his memoirs, painstakingly, by blinking his left eye--the only region of his face over which he had control--as a 'facilitator,' if you will, read him a modified alphabet. Bauby had to spell out each word extremely slowly. If you saw the film, you'll have a sense of the speed of communication we're talking about:

"A...E...R...S..." (blink) "S?" (blink) (transcriber writes down S) "A...E..." (blink) "E?" (blink) (transcriber writes down E) Etc.

Bauby had been incapacitated for a much shorter time than Houbens and had, at least, one very alive eye, but here Houbens is supposedly able to rattle off his thoughts with almost as much speed as if he were guiding his hand himself? I don't think so.

I was reserving judgment, ready to accept the story at face value, until I remembered how exrcutiatingly slowly Bauby communicated his thoughts. As I say, Houbens may have more brain power than suspected, but it certainly doesn't look like it's he doing the communicating.

[Barack_America]

28. I absolutely agree with you.

I've watched a bunch of videos and while I see no evidence of communication*, I also see things that make me wonder why he was diagnosed as being comatose.

In particular, a CBS video shows him being lowered into a therapy pool, which elicits what sure as hell looks like a smile. In the same video, he also seems to react to noise with a startle-like response, moving his upper limbs to some degree. Furthermore, what I suspect the "scan" findings really were is that his brain shows evidence of being awake, i.e. consumes more energy than a resting or comatose brain would. I really fail to see how such scans can detect "function" however. Function and activity are very different things. It does seem as though this is being passed off as some sort of "locked in" syndrome, but that seems rather sketchy. This man shows evidence of real trauma in his posturing, eye positioning, etc. In any case, I suppose that many neurologists will be interested in examining him and it will be interesting to hear what they have to say.

*lack of observation does not necessarily imply lack of existence.