that's pretty bad
I'm surprised he didn't go mad
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:25, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

'pretty bad'?
Losing your doorkeys and having to break a window to get in your house is pretty bad.

I'd rate '23 years of conscious paraylsis' as 'really rather bad', or even worse....
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:28, Reply)

I thought it was horrific at first, but I read a couple of other pieces about it.
From here:

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.

'Facilitated communication' is basically really fucking dodgy. territory. There's a woman in the US who has had mentally-ill kids taken away from their parents for "facillitating" stories of abuse from them.
(Spleep Shit, or get off the internet., Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:37, Reply)

There's this too
www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/783-this-cruel-farce-has-to-stop.html
(Ghost Atreides enjoying incontestable health benefits on, Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:39, Reply)

Cool
thanks for the link.
(Spleep Shit, or get off the internet., Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:46, Reply)

There's another article on The Guardian
that interviews both the nurse/transcriber who helps people like this and a cynical doctor. Turns out it's actually bona fide and works!
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Fri 27 Nov 2009, 16:14, Reply)

I'm surprised too
I'd've gone mad in the first year, let alone 23 of them.
(Ghost Atreides enjoying incontestable health benefits on, Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:30, Reply)

Belgian, you see.
Too dull to go mad. Probably spent the whole time fantasising about bumming kids.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:31, Reply)

Ah
So thats what "meditating" is now a euphemism for.
(Ghost Atreides enjoying incontestable health benefits on, Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:35, Reply)

Belgium's chock full of 'meditators'
I'm surprised celebrity 'meditator' Gary Glitter hasn't moved there.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 27 Nov 2009, 13:37, Reply)