Need Product Advice for ALS Patient

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Gracie

Active member
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
63
Diagnosis
09/2007
Country
US
State
PA
City
Altoona
My husband is loosing his ability to speak and his motor skills almost prevent him from writing. What kind of electronic device with a keyboard is out there that is small and can be held with one hand and is very simple to understand and use? He won't use a laptop computer so I am looking for something extremely easy to use and only enough for him to type a sentence or two? Thank you, any advice is sincerely appreciated.
 
Caldona, I think, suggested an old cell phone for typing messages.
I like my I Pad.
 
My husband lloves his ipad
 
My husband uses his iPhone.

Jen
 
An iPad is a good idea. My husband used one with a stylus later attached to his index finger for easier use. Simpler than that would be a letter board that you could get from your speech pathologist or download off the Internet. This can be customized with some key phrases with people's names and some basics wants and needs. Your husband can point and perhaps even just use his eyes to directionally point. There are of course more sophisticated eye gaze computers. Take care. Yasmin.
 
Gotta tell you, I had a awesome day.
I spent 4 hours at an Augmentative and Alternative Communication Clinic, and it was incredible.

They let me play with all kinds of toys:
Ipads
Dynavox maestro

I used a head mouse and eye gaze technology

Truely amazing stuff.

The head mouse is easy to use and easy to setup on any computer if you still have decent mobility with the head.
If not, the eye gaze was so efficiant. I could type quicker with my eyes than with my hands.

Good luck,
Casey
 
casey i'm going thru the same process right now. i love the eye gaze so easy! i have tried a tobi and a frs. I try a dynavox next week. I have a question how well do they work outside? the frs showed me they wrk thru sunglasses but i recieved very different answers about how they worked outside.
 
My father uses his iPhone. A free application called Dragon Dictation allows him to speak into his phone and instantly see it as text in an email so as his fingers became weaker this application was very helpful.

Hope this helps!

Karen
 
I'm looking for the same thing for myself. I have a RAZR Maxx phone and down loaded a text to speech app. App is easy to use & very simple, but w the small screen I have to scroll to access the speak button. I love Verbally on our ipad, but too big to carry in my purse. Thinking about an iPad Mini w a 7.9" screen. Hope to play w one soon. I am still mobile w use of my arms. Bulbar onset.
 
My husband is loosing his ability to speak and his motor skills almost prevent him from writing. What kind of electronic device with a keyboard is out there that is small and can be held with one hand and is very simple to understand and use? He won't use a laptop computer so I am looking for something extremely easy to use and only enough for him to type a sentence or two? Thank you, any advice is sincerely appreciated.
I don't know what part of the world you are in, but Children's Hospital in Waltham, MA, U.S., has a clinic that allows ALS patients to try out methods of communication when the power of speech is lost. If this hospital has this service, then other cities must have it, too. Try calling the ALS clinic you currently use. Good luck in finding them. I have ALS, and it is a terrible problem.

Eileen
 
Have you checked out the Dynavox Maestro it can be set up to say sentences with one touch on the screen. We have one for sale also. But check it out and let us know if you think he could use it. Good luck with getting through this.
 
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