Hospital Group Provides Device to Give ALS Patient a Voice

Lou Gehrig’s disease has taken away from Dennis Galvan what is usually taken for granted: the ability to move freely, a voice.

The 41-year-old Galvan has lived at Camarillo’s Pleasant Valley Hospital for three years and has seen the disease--Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis--take more and more of his freedom since he was diagnosed a few years back.

Now, Galvan can move only his eyebrows, a finger and--barely--his lips and head.

But the disease hasn’t taken his hearing or his mind.

With the help of the Pleasant Valley Auxiliary and a little technology, Galvan can once again communicate, using a Dynavox augmentative-communications computer.

The machine resembles a laptop computer and offers a selection of letters, words and pictures on which a patient can click using a sensor. Galvan taps on the sensor with slow, painstaking movements of his head.

Different voices speak the typed sentences.

Auxiliary President Charles Moncrief first heard the Dynavox when a former patient with ALS was visiting with a friend. The man had lost the ability to move and speak.

“I heard a sentence from where he was and I was intrigued,” said Moncrief. “He had the Dynavox system on his wheelchair and was picking out words by using eyebrow movements. He sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to his friend.”

Galvan’s insurance wouldn’t pay for the machine, so the auxiliary got to work raising the $7,500 needed.

“It’s a sad thing to see this man lie there day after day,” said auxiliary member John Willits. “When we tested the machine with Dennis, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. He was so happy.”

The Dynavox will be used for other patients who need it.

On Wednesday, a Dynavox representative gave a demonstration to hospital staff.

Dennis Galvan’s first words in years: “How sweet it is.”