12. Speech-Generating Device (SGD)
According to ALS Association in United States, nearly 6,000 people are diagnosed with ALS every year. Those people are in danger of losing their ability to walk, to move, and to speak. Speech-Generating Device, or SGD, may not help them to walk again, but at least this technology helps them to speak their mind.
The invention of SGD started in 1960s when a typewriter controller called POSSUM was patented in UK. It stands for patient-operated selector mechanism. It was the beginning of the AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) device development.
And one of the first notable people who use this device is Stephen Hawking. He suffers from ALS and he lost his ability to speak after tracheotomy surgery. In 1986, he finally has a computer-generated voice attached to his wheelchair.
After the 2000s, SGD technology is used not just for adults, but also for children. The device has been developed to help children with speech deficiencies, autism, Down syndrome, or any brain damage causing speech impairment. Thanks to this technology, kids and adults with such problems can have their voice back.
