A Matter of Speaking
A case study in Augmentative Communications

Peggy Ross is the kind of person who lifts your spirits as you cross her path. Despite the challenges the 43-year-old has faced, her bright eyes and wide smile always seem to precede her.

Peggy first started experiencing symptoms of seizure disorder at age 16. Three years later, she was also diagnosed with degenerative neurological muscular disease. First, she started losing her voice. Then her motor skills deteriorated and walking became difficult.

In 1994, Peggy sought help from Aspire’s augmentative communication clinic, which offers evaluation and training in the use of assistive communication aids and devices for individuals whose speech production is difficult to understand or who have lost the ability to speak. She began speech therapy with Martha Farewell, speech therapy supervisor and coordinator of augmentative communication services. By now, Peggy was losing her voice for long periods of time and using a walker and wheelchair.

After completing a thorough assessment of Peggy’s communication skills and expressive language needs, Martha fitted her with a Say It All Communication Device, a static display device with multiple symbol overlays and digitized recorded speech.

Over the next few years, Peggy’s disease progressed quickly. A power wheelchair became her sole means of ambulation. She had lost many skills, including the strength necessary to activate the keys on her communication device. However, Peggy was ineligible for a new communication device because of limitations imposed by her insurance provider.

That is when Aspire’s loan closet supplied Peggy with a loaner device to meet her expressive needs. "Without this service, she would have been without a communication system for over two years because of the insurance guidelines," explains Martha.

When Peggy became eligible, Martha helped her attain insurance funding for a new communication device that would better meet her needs. She was approved for a DynaVox, which is a dynamic display communication device with synthesized speech. Peggy could now generate her own messages by selecting pre-programmed words and using her spelling and word sequencing skills to make new phrases. The device became her primary mode of communication.

Having Her Say

Today, Peggy feels Martha has had a profound influence on her life. She communicates her appreciation using her DynaVox, spelling out and selecting words on the keyboard and screen with an adaptive hand pointer. She presses the screen when she’s finished, and the device’s synthesized voice plays back, "Martha helped me know there would be a way I could talk again."

Without her DynaVox, Peggy says life would be hard. "I’d be left out of conversation." When Peggy meets someone new, they don’t always know how to interact. "Sometimes people think I don’t know what is going on," she said. But if people are patient, Peggy can use her DynaVox to say whatever she needs to. Then they get to know the person inside.

Peggy recently moved into one of Aspire’s group homes, where she has enjoyed making new friends. She also participates in Aspire’s Brock Day Services Program at Audubon, where she gained a unique nickname – the DynaVox Police. "She takes pride in ensuring that everyone’s communications device is working, and informing the speech therapists when she finds a problem," explains Jennifer McGraw, the primary Speech Therapist at Brock.

Twice a week, Peggy attends speech therapy to work on grammar and language skills, while addressing ongoing programming needs. Currently, she is writing an article that she hopes will be published in Chicken Soup for the Soul®, the popular collection of motivational stories.

Speaking Out

What Peggy describes as her biggest challenge in life might surprise those who don’t know her. "Getting word out about DynaVox," she said. Many people are unaware of the technology available, or they don’t know how to find it. Peggy is committed to educating the public through speaking engagements at local elementary schools and colleges. She shares her experiences about disabilities and communication devices, and also touts the abilities of her canine helper, Tyndall.

"I want to help others know that the DynaVox opens up a whole new world of speech," said Peggy. Through her own DynaVox, coupled with perseverance, she is accomplishing just that.