Double Amputee Farmer Supports His Family Through Mushroom Farming

The inspiring full article Mushrooms-Help-Vietnam-Farmers-Maimed-by-War-Time-Munitions  appears in the Gulf Times 3/17/13.

Ho Offers Calligraphy Catalog

A 24-page catalog of Ho, the amputee calligrapher's original work is now available from Malaysia.  The self-taught calligrapher managed to develop her own style of calligraphy after losing her upper limbs after an accident in 1990.

A Sample Page of Ho's Unique Calligraphy

The cost is $6.00 or RM18 plus $3.00 or RM9 postage. Contact:

He Lan Gui, 12F Jalan Hanag Jabet, 75200 Malacca Malaysia

New Study Shows Amputees Can Mentally Move Missing Limbs In Impossible Ways

Excerpted from the Science News article: An experiment explores the connections between brain and body By Stephen Ornes, Web edition : Thursday, November 19th, 2009

“Phantom” pain is like a ghost in the body — but it’s anything but imaginary. People who have had an arm or leg amputated can often still feel sensations of the missing limb, even though it’s no longer there. These sensations can be painful, and scientists are always looking for new ways to help relieve this phantom pain for amputees. Treatment often involves using mirrors to visually trick the person’s brain. The thinking is that, if a person can “see” his own body in a new way, his brain may stop sending pain messages.
In a new study, a team of neuroscientists have made another surprising discovery about amputees: They can be taught to mentally move their missing limbs in ways that are impossible in the real, physical world. It’s impossible for a person to bend his wrist down and then twist his hand around in a full circle.
Seven people who had had their arms amputated above the elbow participated in the experiment. After extensive mental training, four of the seven were able to feel the sensation of this impossible act, and describe it in detail.
“It is very surprising that anybody — amputees or not — can learn impossible movements just by thinking about it,” Henrik Ehrsson of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, told Science News. Ehrsson is a neuroscientist, which is a scientist who studies the brain and nervous system.