Friday, May 6, 2011

Oregon woman's dental surgery leads to foreign accent syndrome

Speech disorder: Foreign accent syndrome is rare - latimes.com:

Karen Butler has involuntarily acquired a new accent.

A lifelong resident of Oregon went to the dentist for surgery and awakened from sedation speaking in a British, or somewhat-British, accent.

The 56-year-old woman appeared Thursday on NBC’s 'Today,' answering questions in what this MSNBC story describes as “an odd mixture of Irish, Scottish and northern British, with perhaps a dash of Australian and South African for good measure.”

Some speculate that she may have foreign accent syndrome, a rare but real speech disorder. It’s most often caused by a stroke, but can also be caused by a blow to the head, brain hemorrhage or multiple sclerosis.
Without even checking out the YouTube of Ms. Butler's affliction, it sounds to me like watching Monty Python has been having this effect on 8th and 9th graders for at least the last thirty years. (I confess.)
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