Speech Generating Device Recommendations

[otstudent87]

Hi everyone,

I'm a medical student and working on my clinical rotations before graduation next year and I am working with my first ALS patient and wanted to get some advice on speech generating devices that might be helpful for him.

He is a 32 year old male, married and has a 2 year old daughter. He is ambulatory at the present time for short distances and uses a walker. He is able to perform functional tasks with is arms, such as eating or typing; but he fatigues easily due to muscle weakness. He is slightly dysarthric and is very worried that he will not be able to communicate in the future. His wife is able to understand him approximately 50% of the time. He really wants to maintain the ability to communicate now and increase the percentage of time he is understood for now.

Any help is greatly appreciated! I see him on Monday so would like to get some ideas before then if possible! Thanks so much!

 

[lgelb]

OT,
Kudos for reaching out. When you do this kind of eval, questions you may want to answer before considering apps are:

What kind of desktop, laptop, smartphone, tablet(s) does he have/want to use (what are the use cases you are looking to address? what environments?) What has the rate of progression of limb deficit been? Is this bulbar, respiratory or limb onset?

FYI, "slightly dysarthric" and "wife can only understand him 50% of the time" don't match up. He's entered the moderate and progressive zone.

Since he is ambulatory and has arm/hand use, it would be premature to think about eye gaze. Therefore, "devices" is really a misnomer in your question. He can still progress from adapted computing/mobile platform with apps now to alternative/head mice/mouthsticks to switch/virtual keyboard use to eye gaze, if he gets that far. Of course, some PALS skip some of those steps. This is a very individualized endeavor, as you know.

Depending on his platform(s), PALS here can chime in but several apps have gotten high marks if you use the search link up top.

Best,
Laurie

 

[otstudent87]

Laurie, thanks so much for your response! To answer your question, I know he has an iPad and a Laptop (not sure what kind). Also, I'm sure he has a phone, but again not sure what kind. Would you be able to explain a little more about what you mean by adapted computing and mobile platform. Sorry, but some of this is very new to me and I'm curious to learn!

 

[sweetmozart]

My husband has been a PALS since 2001. He still uses his desktop with a mouse. The program he uses for generating speech is called dasher. I understand him approximately fifty percent of the time, and he has used this program on an as needed basis for a few years now, more lately. It is software available for download.

 

[lgelb]

OT,
Apps are available for certain platforms (e.g. iOS phones and tablets can use apps from the app/iTunes store. Likewise, Macs and Windows have different apps available. So it's important to know what he has. If he has an iPad, he might have an iPhone, which would be easier to walk around with, and can demo an app like Proloquo or Verbally on his phone when you see him next. And Dasher.

Dasher is a Web browser plug that is like a predictive word cloud that you can click on. Some like it, others find it dizzying. The best AAC apps all have predictive word capacities, some better than others, and Proloquo w/ its companion app has customizable speech panels so people can pick their favorite words/phrases where they expect them to be. Take a look at the assistiveware site if you want to see the top of the line in iOS/Mac AAC.

 

[patoyeah]

I only have eye movement. I have been using an Eyegaze Edge by LC Technologies, for a few months. I am happy with it. Tobii is more popular. There subtle differences.

Take care,

Pat

 

[otstudent87]

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful responses! I really appreciate your feedback and suggestions.

 

[affected]

Are you going to share back with us what technology you decide to try and how it goes with the PALS you are working with?

 

[Jfmitch38]

I also have a Senior Nursing student as a caregiver, I'm blessed. My pals is new to the diagnosis, but we find she's be affected for over 2-3 years. I can only understand her about 35% of the time. We downloaded Speak-it free app for her iPad, and also purchased a Boogie Board from Amazon. Like an etch a schetch for those moments that are stressing both parties out. We do pretty well with the Boggie board, but a long statement is Speak it.

 

[Jfmitch38]

Are there large differences between Tobii Eye Gaze and LcTechnologies Eye Gaze Edge?