Boy born with no brain then 2 years later giggled and said "Mum"

a reply to: Argus100

Now that you mention it, sure.

a reply to: Revolution9

LOL ...That reminded me of my brothers chicken . He decided one day to harvest his chickens and was using them for target practice at the same time . Any how he was making head shots and then would gather them up and process them .At the end of the day there was one missing ....2 weeks later this chicken comes walking out of the woods with no head and just a sting size piece of tissue with a eye ball attached to the end of it .....Funniest thing I had ever seen ..

a reply to: RP2SticksOfDynamite

They report that it occurs in "two in 10,000 births".

Sounds to me like someone is just making stuff up. Unless it is common in Britain to use strange ratios like that.

Why not just say 10 in 100,000? LOL

ETA: quick search shows incidence estimated around 1.31 in 10,000. I guess the Mirror was saving on a couple of characters of print.

a reply to: RP2SticksOfDynamite

I remember reading about a condition after birth where the fluid from the spine that fills the brain cavity with liquid to suspend the brain and provide shock protection doesn;t turn off, overfilling the brain cavity, forcing the brain to squish all around the inside edge of the skull. The result is the brain is left with as little as five percent of its capability, yet these people live completely normal lives.

Because most of the brains capacity is to record the life experience, its unused memory space is there in anticipation of a long life.

Everything humans do, think or say is being recorded, verbatim.

This is just sad. Poor thing sounds like he's being coached by mom and dad and will just have a difficult life.

I definitely do not think so. Especially when he stops being a cute kid and becomes a suffering adult...and his parents too, suffering adults.
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

there is also this little guy

Florida baby born without most of his skull, brain celebrates 1st birthday: ‘His life is already miraculous’

www.nydailynews.com...


youtu.be...

originally posted by: TheToastmanCometh
This is just sad. Poor thing sounds like he's being coached by mom and dad and will just have a difficult life.

I don't understand, are you saying people shouldn't try and teach their kids things if they are disabled?

The difference between this child and Stephen Hawking is Hawking has a functional brain despite being struck with a degenerative disorder. all things considered, Hawking has more consciousness, just stuck in a decrepit body. The child is severely handicapped and shouldn't be paraded around like some miracle. Have we not learned from John Merrick and the freak shows of yesteryear? reply to: Grenade

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Because "per 10,000 births" is a common metric.

Like all disabilities, there is a spectrum. Using myself as an example, I have Asperger and live a somewhat normal life. My friend's brother has severe autism... He's 21 yet has the mind of a 5 year old, yet can work and do activities outside the home. Unfortunately in this case, this child although can seem to speak, is not going to live a full quality life. He can't move much, he will need to be cared for the rest of his natural life, and if he lives past his parents, who will take care of him? Reply to: Halfswede

a reply to: TheToastmanCometh

well..."speak" may be loosely applied. There are countless videos of dogs and cats on YouTube that can say "Momma" and "I love you".

a reply to: TheToastmanCometh

That doesn't really answer my question. You seem to have a problem with the fact that she is trying to teach it anything.

originally posted by: Halfswede
a reply to: TheToastmanCometh

That doesn't really answer my question. You seem to have a problem with the fact that she is trying to teach it anything.

Something to consider: you just referred to a "he" as an "it".

The way we perceive things is sometimes difficult to grapple with. ETA: not a moral comment here....but an observation on how we perceive things.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

originally posted by: Halfswede
a reply to: TheToastmanCometh

That doesn't really answer my question. You seem to have a problem with the fact that she is trying to teach it anything.

Something to consider: you just referred to a "he" as an "it".

The way we perceive things is sometimes difficult to grapple with. ETA: not a moral comment here....but an observation on how we perceive things.

I did that on purpose.

a reply to: RP2SticksOfDynamite

True story...I have a lady whom I know very well in my town whose daughter had a little girl born three years ago without a brain, mainly just stem I guess. I don't know the medical or scientific details of her exact condition, but that's what we heard, but without a brain and she wasn't expected to live beyond a few weeks. Three years later the little girl is not only alive, but communicates with her grandma (who is raising her) through gestures. And now to hear of another story like this is awesome.

a reply to: TheToastmanCometh

He can't move much, he will need to be cared for the rest of his natural life, and if he lives past his parents, who will take care of him?

Perhaps myself and my family who run a residential care home for medically fragile children. With severe conditions.

Or when he's an adult perhaps someone else that cares, has sufficient training, and doesn't see him as a burden and a "sad thing".

IDK. As wordy as the article was, it mainly just kept repeating over and over how the baby shouldn’t have survived in the first place and how amazed the mother was that the child said, “mummy”. Whether or not it actually said “mummy”, or the mother was just doing a little wishful thinking, is anyone’s guess. Other than that, the article conveyed very little information.

If this child survives until adulthood I would be curious to read about it’s further development. I’ve read about children born lacking major functional areas of the brain that went on to develop fairly normally. Apparently the existing portions of the brain compensated for the missing part. But I’ve never read about a child born with a brain stem only and developing normally. I guess that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible, but it would seem highly unlikely. The thing is, we don’t know how embellished this story may be, and you can’t believe everything you read.

I have, however, sometimes wondered just how distributed conscious awareness might be throughout the nervous system. That probably makes no sense, but then I’m no expert on the subject.

In any casre, I wish the child and it’s family well and hope he defies the odds. Would be incredible.

PS: Why not 1 in 5,000 instead of 2 in 10,000? Hmmm...

a reply to: netbound

The article wasn't suggesting normal development. Given the conditions it's simply amazing how far the development has come. On par with a healthy child with a full brain? No. No one suggested that.

Also the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus seem to be vouching for the claims in the article. It's not just the mom's word. At least according to the article.