The light at the end of the tunel...

In 2009 my life was rocked when I suffered a traumatic brain injury.  One morning I woke up and knew something was severely wrong with my body and brain.  I couldn't walk or talk properly for 3 months.  I was bed-ridden and wouldn't leave the house.  My voice went from sounding like a stroke victim to one day waking up with a Swedish accent.  Eventually Italian, British and over time I developed 14 very distinct different accents.  The accents would pop up with no rhym or reason and last for 1 minute, an hour, a day, weeks or months.  I started suffering seizures, brain zaps, tremors, night terrors and various other things were happening to my body and brain that were not normal. 

Doctors treated all my symptoms seperatly, sending me to different specialists, doing tests and told me in 6 months everything would turn back to normal.  It is now 2014 and normal for me is a British Accent.

I have been diagnoised with a very rare syndrome that under 100 persons in the world currently have.  Foreign Accent Syndrome.  Yep, it's a real diagnosis.

Living with something like this is a truely wonderous thing.  I meet new people every day.  A simple grocery store trip to get milk turn into 5 or 6 people asking me where I am from because I sound British.  Even people from abroad ask me when I moved here.  It's amazing how authentic I sound to people.  I had to make up business cards to hand out to people as it takes to long to explain my story, I have groceries to buy! 

So what happened to me?  A doctor instructed me to stop one medication and start another rather than titrating (weening) down from one onto another.   It is believed by some of my current doctors that I fell into a small coma.  Additionally it is believed I suffered major seritonin withdrawl.  The FAS (Foreign Accent Syndrome) comes in by having decreased blood flow to the left frontal lobe of your brain where language is controlled.  That is where my damage is..."allegedly".  I am using careful words for obvious reasons.  

For close to 5 years I have lived with FAS as an every day part of my life.  You wouldn't think that something so fun as a daily British Accent would be something hard.  Don't get me wrong...it's fun, more often than not.  Joking that my husband goes to bed every night with a different woman...that never gets old!  But I have faced trials like loosing people close to me because they didn't believe my injury was real.  Strangers making fun of me....in front of my children.  Being called a foreigner when you were born and raised here.  Being asked if I can speak English.  Those are a few of the nice things.  Rather than be bitter I took the higher road and used the adversity as a learning experience and taught my children in real situations how NOT to treat people.  How adults have to be put in "time out" sometimes.  We don't judge people by how they look, sound, walk or talk.  The old adage "don't judge a book by it's cover" has new meaning to me.

My children dubbed my old voice my "mommy voice".  In the beginning when the voice changes first started happening they kept asking when my mommy voice was coming back.  It is a hard thing to think that the voice you are born with, said "I do" with, said "I'm your mama" at the birth of your children is gone.  My pitch, tone, cadence are all different.  Even now 3 years later it is something I struggle with.

But for all the sadness that seems to be said above I am greatful.  My heart and mind have been lifted to seeing things with new eyes.  When you come so close to loosing everything you appreciate the small things so much more.  I stop and I smell the roses.  I firmly believe that God has a plan for all of us in this world.  For me, this was his plan, the path he laid for me.  Crazy as it is.  But that is me, out of the ordinary.  I have never done things normal.  Normal isn't fun.

 So I get to be the brain injured, British sounding gal that gets to spread the word about FAS and tell people my story.  Educating people to do their homework on being their own advocate when prescribed medications and doing your own homework when it comes to your health and well-being. In my case I was miss-diagnoised.  Given double the recommeded maximum dosage of medication and taken off cold-turkey.  Not a great combination.  It ultimately caused an injury but it didn't take my "voice" away or my spirit.

I hope you found this blog informative and worth while to read.  It is not easy to put your personal story out there on the web for all to see.  Share the link with someone who may be suffering from an injury as well.  It may give them a light at the end of their tunnel.

Scottish woman speaks with Italian accent...

Today I found another person that has been diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrom.  Her's was caused by a stroke.  She is a native of Scotland and spoke with a Scottish accent before her injury, now she has an Italian accent.  From the article it also says she has weakness on her right side. 

You can read more about Debbie McCann by clicking on the below link:
The Telegraph UK

My Strange Brain December 2008 Episode...

This episode covers 3 persons who have FAS.  They describe it as a depleated amount of oxygen to the area of the brain that provides speech and language.  These three video's give you a taste of some of my daily trials and tribulations.

The Definition of FAS...

University of Southern California

Foreign Accent Syndrome

Author: Mary Cresse

Pronounced: FOR-en AK-sent SIN-drome

En Español (Spanish Version)

Definition

Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a rare and acquired speech disorder. In many cases, it is caused by a stroke. Damage to the brain affects the rhythm and melody of speech. If you have FAS, you adopt what sounds like a foreign accent, even though you may never have traveled to that particular country.

Stroke—Common Cause of Foreign Accent Syndrome

© 2009 Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.

Causes

FAS is caused by damage to the brain, which may be due to:

• Stroke (main cause)
• Trauma to the brain, such as a sharp blow to the skull
• Brain hemorrhage
• Multiple sclerosis

FAS is also linked it to other conditions, such as:

• Aphasia—communication disorder that can affect the ability to understand and express language
• Speech apraxia—speech disorder that affects the ability to make sounds, syllables, and words

Risk Factors

These factors increase your chance of developing FAS:

• Being at high risk for stroke
• Having one of the above conditions related to FAS

Tell your doctor if you have any of these risk factors.

Symptoms

If you have any of these symptoms do not assume it is due to FAS. These symptoms may be caused by other conditions. Tell your doctor if you have any of these:

• Distorting the rhythm and tone of speech, such as:
  • Making vowel sounds longer and lower (eg, changing English “yeah” or German “jah”)
  • Changing sound quality by moving tongue or jaw differently while speaking
  • Substituting words or using inappropriate words to describe something
  • Stringing sentences together in the wrong way

If you have FAS, you may be able to speak easily and without anxiety. Other people are able to understand you. The “accent” that you have adopted could be within the same language, such as American-English to British-English.
Symptoms can last for months or years.

Diagnosis

Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. She will also do a physical exam. Tests may include:

• Psychological evaluation (to rule out psychiatric conditions)
• Assessment of language skills, such as:
  • Tests to assess reading, writing, and language comprehension
  • Use of recordings to analyze speech patterns
• Examination of muscles used in speech
• Electroencephalogram (EEG)—a test that records the brain’s activity by measuring electrical currents through the brain
• MRI scan—a test that uses magnetic waves to make pictures of structures inside the brain
• CT scan—a type of x-ray that uses a computer to make pictures of structures inside the brain
• Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scan—an imaging test that shows blood flow in the brain
• PET scan—a test that produces images to show the amount of functional activity in the brain

Since this condition is rare, you will most likely be evaluated by a team of specialists, including:

• Speech-language pathologist
• Neurologist
• Neuropsychologist
• Psychologist

Treatment

Talk with your doctor about the best treatment plan for you. Treatment options include the following:

• Speech therapy—Some reports have shown that speech therapy can help with FOS. For example, you can learn how to better move your lips and jaw during speech.
• Counseling—Since FOS is a rare disorder, you may feel isolated and embarrassed. Counseling can help you and your family better cope with the condition.

Prevention

Since FAS is closely linked to stroke, follow these guidelines to prevent stroke:

• Exercise regularly.
• Eat a healthful diet.
• Quit smoking and limit how much alcohol you drink.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Check your blood pressure often.
• Take a low dose of aspirin if your doctor says it is safe.
• Keep chronic conditions under control.
• Call 911 if you have symptoms of a stroke, even if symptoms stop.
• Do not use drugs.

UT Dallas FAS Support

My search lead me to the University of Texas website where they have Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) Support.  I learned quite a bit from their website and sent them an email stating my issue and why I thought I had FAS.  They have a better definition of FAS on their website:

About FAS

Evolution of a basal ganglia lesion in three successive MR images of a Spanish-speaking FAS patient. The images also show a right temporal lesion.
(Gonzalez-Alvarez et al., 2003) Rev Neurol, 3, 227-234.

Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is speech disorder that causes a sudden change to speech so that a native speaker is perceived to speak with a “foreign” accent. FAS is most often caused by damage to the brain caused by a stroke or traumatic brain injury. Other causes have also been reported including multiple sclerosis and conversion disorder and in some cases no clear cause has been identified.

Speech may be altered in terms of timing, intonation, and tongue placement so that is perceived as sounding foreign. Speech remains highly intelligible and does not necessarily sound disordered.
FAS has been documented in cases around the world, including accent changes from Japanese to Korean, British English to French, American-English to British English, and Spanish to Hungarian.
Some common speech changes associated with FAS include:

• Fairly predictable errors
• Unusual prosody, including equal and excess stress (especially in multi-syllabic words)
• Consonant substitution, deletion, or distortion
• Voicing errors (i.e. bike for pike)
• Trouble with consonant clusters
• Vowel distortions, prolongations, substitutions (i.e. “yeah” pronounced as “yah”)
• “uh” inserted into words

There is even a link to speech samples of a person BEFORE AND AFTER getting FAS.  You can listen here: http://www.utdallas.edu/research/FAS/about/samples.html

What is Foreign Accent Syndrome?

So here is the official definition of FAS as per Wikapedia:

Foreign Accent Syndrome is an unusual psychological disorder which, in its milder form, causes people it affects to pronounce words in a foreign accent. The disorder usually follows a brain injury caused by non-perforating head trauma, as perforating head trauma is much too gory for a proper mental ilness. In extreme cases, victims of Foreign Accent Syndrome can actually acquire knowledge of the foreign language associated with their new accent, slang terms and humorous exaggerated versions of national stereotypes included. A victim who develops a Lithuanian accent might acquire the Lithuanian language, tell other people to "Laizhyk asilo shikna", piss on bottles of Švyturys Ekstra, and date his sister. As of the present, there is no known cure or treatment for Foreign Accent Syndrome, and scientists have still been unable to completely unravel how the disorder works. People afflicted with the disorder are usually shunned in their community, and turned into social pariahs. Fortunately, there are government sponsored programs that let victims of FAS assimilate in foreign countries where their accents are accepted.

The History of FAS:

The first confirmed case of Foreign Accent Syndrome occurred on 09 August 1917, when 16 year old Kentucky resident Amelia Clementine, after a mild domestic quarrel and subsequent coma, woke up with a strong English Accent. Her friends and family were initially baffled by her mysterious ailment, and thought that she was afflicted with a "devil disease" and should be "put to death with a stick". Note that up until the 1940's, the relationship between America and England was a feeling of mutual animosity, and that death by large stick was a culturally acceptable practice in backward Kentucky towns. Amelia's parents did not initially accept the mysterious changes happening to her, and were shocked to learn that she used British English instead of American English; many of her relatives were confused of her tendency to use the irregular forms of past tenses and past participles (spoilt rather than spoilled), rather than the regular forms.^[1]

 

How it all began...

It began in December 2009.   I  woke up that morning in December knowing something was severely wrong with my entire body.  For months I couldn't walk or talk properly I sounded as if I had a stroke.  One day I woke up with a Swedish accent.  It turned my world upside down.  It stayed that way for days.  Then I was Irish, then Australian.
The doctors had no idea what to think of it.  I was told it would go away in 6 months.  Not only was my voice wrong but the right side of my body wasn't working normally.
I went on in a fog for months until May 2009.  Emails, texts, phone calls, Facebook messages from those who cared were telling me to log on to the computer to CNN.  A British woman went to bed with a sever migrane and woke up the next morning with a Chinese accent.  After months of searching I realized I had FAS... Foreign Accent Syndrome.
Here is the video feed