LOST TV series and aphasia
 

So I had to share something I found while going through the "Lost" television series on Netflix:

I have demonstrated to my doctors that I have had a difficult time verbalizing my thoughts sometimes and/or when I was working verbalizing my analysis of information. But I discovered while I couldn't put it into words verbally . . . I could write it!!

My doctors all looked at me and said some version of: "Hmm, that's interesting. I have never seen that."

Well, the doctors might not but the WRITERS of the television series LOST aren't strangers to the concept...

In the final season, in the episode titled "The Package," the character Sun (who is native Korean) hits her head, and while she is able to understand English spoken to her, she can't SPEAK it.

As another character, Miles, sarcastically says: "Wait, let me get this straight. She hits her head and suddenly can't speak English. Are we supposed to believe that???"

(How many of us have had to deal with that kind of attitude from people??)

Sun is diagnosed with aphasia. What's even more interesting? They discover that Sun can still WRITE in English even when she can't speak it.

I know this may seem like a silly tidbit but I wanted to share it with you guys. No one else I know seemed to care . . .

But when you have been dealing with so much skepticism from people, it is nice to see that these things are recognized. . . . Because it was on TV it MUST be real then, right??

Written expression is processed by a different part of the brain than verbal expression. Likely, one of the writers has experience with this with family or friends. Or, found it on something like the TBI Survival Guide or brought in a TBI consultant. TV scripts are not constrained by decades old med school or the limit of the patients of a neuro. But, a speech pathologist would likely know more about this than the doctors.

I find I do much better in written expression than verbal. I attribute part of it to the fact that written expression is slower and allows me to read what I am writing which helps me stay on track and be reminded of what I have already said. Having the ability to edit what I have said also help.

You likely find you are more expressive about old knowledge than new knowledge, especially new knowledge you must analyze.

I find that I also struggle to receive and process spoken words compared to my ability to process written words. I am quick to use the 'skip back' feature on my satellite TV system so I can rewind a few seconds so I can understand what is being said. I wish I had that feature on the car radio.

I find that once I understood these limitations, I was able to develop work-arounds so I could continue to function.

Mark,

You are SO right about the skip back feature, I use that a lot myself but never actually connected it to my situation.

I think my Neuro is going to refer me to a speech pathologist soon.