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
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
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.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The Definition of FAS...
Pronounced: FOR-en AK-sent SIN-drome
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:
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 “jahâ€)
- 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:
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.
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:
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
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]
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
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
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
