After spending more than two decades in a coma, Rom Houben, a Belgian man in his mid-forties, was suddenly able to communicate, news reports posted last November.

In stories Nov. 23, Nov. 24 and Nov. 25 about communication with a brain-injured man, The Associated Press erroneously revealed the way doctors initially determined the man was conscious and not in a vegetative state.

In addition, Dr. Steven Laureys, a neurologist at Liege University Hospital in Belgium, one of Houben's doctors reported in the stories that he was involved in helping Houben communicate with a touch screen keyboard.

He added that the man's family and other doctors brought in a speech therapist to help Houben with what's called facilitated communication.

"We did not have all the facts before", he said Friday. "The story of Rom is about the diagnosis of consciousness, not communication", Laureys quoted.

Last year, Laureys tested the technique and had a belief that Houben was able to communicate. Additional study has shown the method doesn't work in his case.