If you are having trouble talking and are considering a speech device do NOT! let the speech therapist talk you into anything but a lap top. Medicare will only cover one device and it should not be a " Light writer". If you can get a light writer from an ALS loner closet , fine. They can be carried more easily than a lap top but they require the ability to type which can become difficult or impossible as als progresses and they can not do near as much as a computer. A lap top can be adapted to speak for you even if you get to a point that you can only move a foot or a knee or blink an eye. A light writer has no such capability. My wife's therapist told us that we had to take the light writer because she could not tote a lap top. This was a huge mistake. We have a lap top now and that's how my wife communicates. She spends a lot of her time online e-mailing her friends, posting on this forum and, of course, shopping. Can't do any of that w/ a light writer. Insist on a lap top with "Etriloquist", "Point & Click" and "Text to Speech" software installed.