Our affiliation with several proactive neurologists and ALS team members from referring centers has given us the opportunity and honor to learn from people with ALS who choose to meet with us early in their life with ALS. Many of the proactive approaches …

What do we mean by ‘access’? When we talk about access we are really talking about how a person might interact with a device. Often people will “access” a computer using a keyboard and mouse, or “access” an iPad using a finger and the touchscreen, or …

Making the most of your speech For some people with ALS, changes to speech production and swallowing are the very first symptoms they experience. This is often referred to as "Bulbar onset" of symptoms. For others, changes in speech are noted only after …

Experiences and tips from people with ALS and their communication partners The change in communication skills that comes with ALS not only impacts the person with ALS, but also impacts the communication partners. The rhythm of communication is changed, …

There are many different speech generating devices (SGD) available with new technologies being released regularly. A thorough assessment following a feature matching process must be conducted as communication and physical access needs become evident. …

About Message Banking The Boston Children’s Hospital Message Banking Process™ is a dynamic, evolving process that extends from the initial point of contact across the lifespan, cycling through iterative phases in response to changing needs and …

Nancy sharing her heart and soul through message banking Holly discussing selecting messages for her dog named Walker Holly using her device and banked messages to call her dog Holly demonstrating navigation from keyboard to banked messages Gene first …

Using command macros The professional versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking offer the ability to create command macros. While a text macro will simply insert text, a command macro can enter text, execute keystrokes, record mouse movement, and string to …

Use sticky keys to press keyboard keys "in a row" that you usually have to press together (like the shift key). To turn on/off sticky keys, press the shift key five times in a row. When you turn on sticky keys, you will get a "sticky keys notification …

Speech recognition software is a computer program that types words as you speak them into a microphone. So you can use your voice to type emails, documents, and Facebook and blog posts. Think of it as replacing the keyboard with your speech. Can speech …