For most people, talking is the most efficient and easiest way to communicate.  To be able to articulate words into sentences that can negotiate, discuss, or express one's thoughts or emotions into a communicative format is the preferred way to socialize around the world.  Most people learn to talk and communicate in the regional dialect and language of their caregivers and environment.  Talking is only one way to communicate, yet it is the most common.  To take away a person's ability to talk due to a laryngectomy can be the most unkindly cut of all.  The loss of words is more than a literary description, it is a way of life to the laryngectomee. 

For some laryngectomees, an 'electrolarynx' is a tool that they can use to be able to speak and communicate, but it is often in a mechanical or robotic sound with no inflection of 'natural' speech.  The ability to inflect questions or have a voice pattern with different tones by utilizing an electrolarynx is a reality with the TruTone Electrolarynx you can put your personality back into your voice with the only external vocal instrument that will allow laryngectomees to express themselves with true voice prosody, offering a smooth range of tones.  The TruTone Electrolarynx was designed to allow laryngectomees a more natural sounding voice with a greater frequency range and harmonic intensity. 

Using a new, patented technology, the TruTone Electrolarynx fluctuates the pitch of your voice by simply using a single pressure-sensitive button with your thumb.  When using this elecrolarynx, the thumb is in one place so operating this device is very easy and naturally instinctual. With this product, a person can immediately start to have a more natural sounding intonation and the most optimum voice restoration than with any other electrolarynx speech aid.  The TruTone speech aid has the widest tonal range available in an electrolarynx. 

  
From library.rehabmart.com

Besides being one of the smallest and lightest speech aids at 4.5 ounces and designed to fit in the palm of your hand, it is also one of the most durable, housed in the same material that is used in bullet proof glass. The TruTone is scratch resistant and can survive being dropped or other high impacts and is especially suited for spending hours away from home or traveling the world.

For many individuals, it can be difficult to be heard in crowded rooms or highly social situations, and for a laryngectomee, it can be doubly difficult. But with the TruTone, an individual can enjoy variable pitch control with the best volume range available today.  Want to be heard in a louder environment?  No problem, take advantage of the TruTone's highly efficient circuitry and set it at the high-volume range, or reduce the volume for a more normal, or as my mom used to say, "your inside voice" level.

As a daily living aid, the TruTone Electrolarynx helps to make life a lot easier for laryngectomees. To be able to sound more natural again boosts confidence, self-esteem and self-expression, giving people an ability to communicate with feelings and emotion.  With a TruTone, people may not be able to sing like Sinatra but they can now read Shakespeare out loud with a sound and fury, and this time is will signify something.


Bill Stock
Executive Editor,
Content & Social Media Services
and
Hulet Smith, OT
Rehabmart Team Leader & CEO