Speech Device for Bulbar-onset ALS

[ghaurif]

Hi guys,

I hope you are well and coping with any difficult situations that you are currently facing.

I am after a recommendation for a speech device for my father, a bulbar-onset PALS. He had a trach inserted 3 weeks ago so cannot speak, but his voice was barely discernible in the weeks leading up to it.

He currently communicates using his reasonably functional right hand, through writing (when he is feeling awake and has no breathing or bowel discomforts troubling him), or simply by pointing at letters on a whiteboard and my family write the sentences.*

It is not horrendously difficult at the moment to understand him since most phrases we can anticipate - they do not vary much - but this isn't efficient and he can get understandably frustrated at the time this process takes.

He is not very techy, so I was hoping for a recommendation for a hand controlled device which generates phrases that we ourselves can input - does anything exist like that?*

Thanks in advance,
Farhan

 

[Firefighter58]

Re: Speech Device for Bulbar-Onset PALS

Hello Farrah
I use an iPad with a Dynovox program bought online, I am very pleased with it, I can type what I want to say, and it will say what I typed you can put your own phases into it, and it is also the iPad that I am typeing this message on. Once the Dynovox program is loaded on to the iPad it no longer needs the internet to speak and function as a speaking device. And very easy to operate. Also included in the program is about fifty different languages. Hope this helps.
Al

 

[Wilson2009]

Re: Speech Device for Bulbar-Onset PALS

If your Dad has a smartphone, you might want to try Speech Assistant AAC, which is available for IOS and Android. It installs in seconds, comes with many, many canned statements and you can also add your own statements. If I remember correctly it costs less than $10 USD.

There is also a free phone app called Speech Assist Mini, which has canned phrases and allows you to type in statements, but does not save them. However, it is very easy to use.