Giffords can converse, mouth simple songs

The Associated Press

PHOENIX - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords can walk while holding onto a cart, mouth the lyrics to easy songs and have simple conversations, according to family, staff and her doctors.

Mark Kelly said in an NBC-TV interview yesterday that he can ask his wife questions and she can respond.

"The communication is coming back very quickly," he said.

Kelly said she is trying so hard that her speech therapist, who only a few days ago was trying to get her to talk more, is now asking her to slow down and make sure she hears the question before giving an answer.

For example, Kelly spoke of an occasion when the therapist had three cards on a table, each with a picture of George W. Bush, President Barack Obama or George Washington.

"Before she was asked a question, she'd picked up the card and held it up and said 'George Bush,' " Kelly told NBC's Brian Williams. "She's a hard worker and she's trying. She's speaking a lot and at some level they are asking her to slow down a little bit."

The New York Times, citing doctors and her staff, reported on its website late Sunday that Giffords' efforts to relearn how to speak have included mouthing song lyrics, such as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Happy Birthday to You," as friends and family sang along.

Giffords, 40, also briefly spoke with her brother-in-law, Scott Kelly, by telephone Sunday afternoon as he orbited aboard the International Space Station.

"She said, 'Hi, I'm good,' " her chief of staff, Pia Carusone, told the paper. Kelly is the brother of Giffords' husband, who is also an astronaut.