Patient is finding his voice again with innovative speech technology

After a motorcycle accident left Jacob Shepherd unable to speak, the speech pathology team at IU Health turned to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tailored specifically to his needs. "His fine motor and eye sight isn't the best so for Jacob we had to get creative. We tried something called auditory scanning," said Rachel Birkby, IU Health speech pathologist. Jacob has a customized tablet with pre‑programmed phrases loaded, and an earpiece that lets him select what he wants to say with a simple head movement.

His care team matched exactly the right technology to Jacob’s unique situation. It's world-class care that gives him a way to communicate with his wife and children.

And soon, innovation will take another step by using recordings of Jacob’s voice from before the accident to create a personalized voice for his device, bringing back the sound his family knows by heart.