And here it is: "Man in false 'coma' plans memoirs"

The financial motivation behind this story.



More:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26398218-23109,00.html


Be sure to watch the video of how he "tells" his story.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5759694n&tag=related;photovideo


He should be a very productive writer. He appears to be able to "communicate" even when apparently asleep.

Sid

It's sounding about as genuine as the "balloon boy" story.

The story is about hope.

I have been involved in the care of several severely brain-injured young people over the decades.

First the friends quit coming (a matter of weeks generally), then the siblings, then the boy/girl-friend, then the father: But the mother never gives up coming, and she never gives up hope.

Though I feel certain that a simple experiment would determine if this injured man is actually responding, or if his 'facilitator' is doing a bit more than she realizes (for example: a headset for each, different questions (or none) to each and see which ones he 'answers' - would take about 10 minutes to do) I do not think that such an experiment should be done: Unless such an 'autobiography' is actually undertaken - in which case the public should have some verifiable evidence that the victim is actually the one who is telling his story.

The Buddha taught "All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, We make our world." I am afraid that the world of Rom Houben ended some twenty-three years ago.

Peace.

Honest!

...who allowed him to be "reborn", as he puts it.

My skepticism is quickly turning to downright horror. His poor mother.

This doctor is a snake oil salesman looking to separate distraught families from their money. He will try to run a private facility to see how much money he can scam.

This guy should be in jail for what he is attempting to pull off.

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.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hgsMsAOMKbccOJb8x-r1pkC1PPCQD9C627581

I show a documentary on it it to my university classes to show them what junk science really is. No appropriate controls is the number one reason this is junk science.

It's junk science designed to prey on people who are DESPERATE to hear from their loved ones.

It is a HUGE sin to take advantage of someone else's misfortune, and "facilitated communication" is exactly that.

Sid

to play on a Quiji board.

who else could tell this story?

...unable to "see" what he is "typing".

His "facilitated communicator".

and asked him to answer questions in French, there would be no problem right?

Facilitated Hoax is more like it.

Perfectly natural for a man who didn't communicate for two decades, right? :sarcasm:

This is sad - if his family is being deceived as well it's an incredibly sick scam...

Yes. "Sick" is the perfect word to describe what is being done to her, and her son.

It devolved into a strange discussion of atheism by the end, however.

1986. Spider crawls across ceiling.

1987. Nice man paints ceiling a shade of eggshell white.

1988. Spider back up to it's antics.

1989. Someone needs to clean that spider web away from the corner.

1990. My nose itches.

1991. My nose is really bloody itchy now. Nurse! Nurse!

1992. Bitch! Get over here and give my nose a scratch.

:spank: