Rep. Giffords Mouths Along to Song Lyrics

[cal04]

Report says Giffords mouths song lyrics, speaks to brother-in-law as she re-learns how to talk
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=12909031

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' efforts to relearn how to speak have included mouthing song lyrics, such as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Happy Birthday to You," as friends and family sang along, a newspaper reported late Sunday.

Giffords also briefly spoke with her brother-in-law by telephone Sunday afternoon as he orbited aboard the International Space Station, The New York Times reported on its website. And she's been receiving bedside briefings from aides on the recent uprising in Egypt and on last week's decision by Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona not to seek re-election,

"We tell her everything that's going on," said her chief of staff, Pia Carusone. "Don't get the idea she's speaking in paragraphs, but she definitely understands what we're saying and she's verbalizing."

[PBS Poll-435]

1. K&R

:thumbsup:

[pamela]

2. That's such good news.

Go Gabby!

[Warpy]

3. Music intonation therapy

It's a way of bypassing destroyed tissue to re access parts of the speech center that have remained intact.

It's amazing to see somebody with a really dense aphasia start singing along to something very familiar, like "Happy Birthday." Vocabulary is built using different tones for different words at first, eventually transitioning to more normal sounding speech. It's one of several therapies I saw used in neurology/head injury units.

Neurology is where you see all the real miracles.

[bananas]

4. Thanks, Warpy

Happy Valentines Day.

[zackvs]

5. ab

looks like she really wants to speak again