New way for nonverbal dysphagia patients to communicate

Though many people suffering from neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy and Lou Gehrig’s disease have lost their ability to speak, they can communicate using augmentative and alternative communications (AAC) devices such as keyboards, head sticks and other hands-free options. Nonverbal people, however, are also susceptible to feeding and swallowing problems (dysphagia). In late 2006, Ithaca College faculty member and speech pathologist Mary Pitti and her colleague Liz Begley (an AAC specialist now on staff at College Station Medical Center in Texas) made an eye-opening discovery: AAC devices offering icons and software applications for dysphagia sufferers were nearly nonexistent.

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