Capture your voice with Message banking

Message banking

“Your voice is a vital part of your identity… I think the more real your voice can be, the better the chance you have of people seeing you as you” Jenny Baylis

Many people who lose their voice feel like they are losing an important part of their identity.

Message banking is designed to help people who are going to lose their ability to talk, to record personal phrases in their own voice.

This enables people who still have speech to ‘bank’ messages using their natural voice and intonation, and continue to say them exactly how they would want them to sound.

These ‘messages’ could be anything from words, phrases and sentences to personally meaningful sounds – such as a laugh, or sarcastic clearing of the throat.

The Message banking features in our Grid software let you find and speak these messages again with a few selections.

How to get started with Message banking in Grid 3

The difference between Message banking and Voice banking

People often get confused between Message and Voice banking, which are both similar but very different technologies.

Message banking is the process of recording phrases and sentences that reflect your personality, and are important to you to say in your own manner and voice.

Message banking is available in Grid 3 and Grid for iPad.

Voice banking involves recording a large sample of specific speech to create a synthesized voice. Your synthesized voice will sound like your natural voice but with less intonation, and you will be able to use it to create any new sentence.

Voice banking is compatible with Grid 3.

The importance of capturing your voice

Jenny Baylis, who is living with MND, talks about Voice banking and how important capturing your voice can be at the early stages of any condition that will affect speech, in this moving interview with Richard Cave from the MND Association.

Very special thanks to Jenny Baylis, Richard Cave and Richard Gleave for producing this interview and for giving us permission to share it.

Both Message banking and Voice banking take careful planning, and should be considered with the support of a Speech and Language Therapist.

Find out more

If you are worried about MND /ALS and would like more information about speech and communication support, please visit: http://www.mndassociation.org/about-mnd/living-with-mnd/speech-and-communication/

If you’re in the US, check out the ALS Association: https://www.als.org/navigating-als/resources/fyi-guide-voice-banking-services

More information on Voice banking and Message banking is available here: http://www.mndassociation.org/forprofessionals/aac-for-mnd/voice-banking/

Message banking was developed by John Costello and the team at Boston Children’s Hospital. You can find out more here: http://www.childrenshospital.org/ALSmessagebanking