I lost my dad to ALS and by far the hardest part for him and our family was his loss of ability to speak. My dad was an intelligent, quick-witted, funny guy whose sense of humor was based on dropping the perfect one liner in a conversation that got the whole room rolling with laughter. When ALS started to rob him of his voice, it also stole his ability to participate in conversations. He'd still try but everyone had to ask him to repeat himself several times until we understood. As his disease progressed, he simply stopped trying. We all knew he was still in there, but just unable to connect with the outside world.

I wish this technology could have been around for him to see. It would have been nothing short of a miracle to have been able to unlock those thoughts that were trapped inside. You really don't fully appreciate the power of communication until you lose it.