Invention helps those with ALS find a voice
2/27/2007 4:17 PM
By: Ivanhoe Bradcast News


MarVision allows those with ALS to communicate by just pointing to what they want to say.
Trapped. Desperately wanting to express your wants and needs, yet your body won't allow you to. That can be what it is like for the estimated 30,000 Americans suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain and causes muscle weakness and atrophy. The disease got notoriety in 1939 after former New York Yankee's baseball player Lou Gehrig was stricken with the disease, forcing him to leave the game.

Marlene Miller was a former bank executive vice president who loved to play checkers and tic-tac-toe. That was before she was stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Unable to express how she felt and want she wanted, her family felt frustrated with the inability to help her. That's when her son Roger Kerns came up with the idea to help his mom.

In 1998, while he was watching his nephew play with a laser toy, he realized the laser could serve another purpose. He attached the laser to a clip that could be put on a hat or eyeglasses and then put together a book filled with words and pictures. The words and pictures describe everything from "I'm hungry," to "I love you."



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Gift of Speech

An invention that will help those afflicted with ALS and their loved ones to communicate







This simple invention opened up the voice to not only Marlene but to others suffering from ALS and other voice debilitating diseases. It was named MarVision after Marlene and Roger's vision. It was her dream for him to continue making these available to others could benefit from the device, as she was able to.

Part of Marlene and Roger's vision was to make MarVision affordable to everyone who needed it. At just $225, it is the only portable device available. Roger has currently sold it to more than 30 people with no advertising. There are computers on the market that are able to track eye movement but cost up to $10,000.


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