Who Should Use Essence
More than 2 million people in the United States have a severe communication disorder that impairs their ability to speak and negatively impacts their quality of life. The disorder may be short- or long-term, congenital (present at birth), acquired (occurring later in life), or degenerative (worsening throughout life).
These impairments may be physical, cognitive, or a combination of both, and include:
- ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)
- Parkinson's Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Other degenerative diseases
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- CVA (Stroke)
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to any strategy, technique or tool that enhances, replaces, augments, or supplements an individual's communication capabilities.
Essence is an AAC device and language program that is specifically designed for literate individuals who want a speech-generating device that is based primarily on spelling. It is easy to use, easy to learn, and leverages current skills and knowledge. In addition to spelling, Essence also offers word prediction, abbreviation expansion, and pre-stored words, phrases, and sentences for quick access. Additional features include e-mail capability, operating IR devices, surfing the web, and listening to music. With excellent quality speech output and a variety of voices, communication is easily understood by both the client and the caregiver.
With Essence, an individual can continue to participate in critical activities such as medical, legal and financial decisions. Essence also supports interpersonal communication and family participation, helping to maintain or restore one's quality of life.