Muscular dystrophy group
helps fund speech devices

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By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com

Hawaii patients with neuromuscular disorders may get help from the Muscular Dystrophy Association to pay for speech devices.

The association is offering up to $2,000 for communication technology, said Audrey Taniguchi, health care services coordinator at the Honolulu MDA office.

The national organization recently added coverage to its service programs because "communication is so essential to quality of life," President Robert Ross announced in Tucson, Ariz.

It will assist with the one-time purchase of a device such as a speech generator or speech synthesizers. These alternative and augmentative communication devices must be prescribed by MDA clinic physicians.

The cost of a communication device depends how elaborate it is, Taniguchi said, noting a simple one may run $1,000 to $1,500. More sophisticated equipment will cost more, she said.

People must tap into their insurance first -- Medicare or private insurance -- and bill MDA for co-payment, she said.

This program may benefit people affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), Friedreich's ataxia, oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy and other disorders in which muscle weakness extends to the tongue and other muscles involved in speech.

Hawaii has about 500 muscular dystrophy patients, Taniguchi said.

Those who receive MDA assistance with speech devices are asked to return them to the association when they are no longer being used so they can be added to MDA's loan closet program.

"Right now, we currently have zero in our loan closet," Taniguchi said. However, MD patients may borrow other items from the loan bank, such as wheelchairs, hospital beds, lifts, walkers and bath equipment.

The association also assists patients with purchase and repair of wheelchairs and leg braces.

For more information, call Taniguchi at 548-0588.