Individuals with neurological disease who cannot use speech or writing for communication are no longer without ways to express themselves. Dr. Melanie Fried-Oken operates one of the few Augmentative Communication clinics and research centers in the United States. The clinic provides innovative technology to improve quality of life for individuals with communication disorders due to stroke, multiple sclerosis, ALS, movement disorders, mental retardation or autism. Patients with severe speech and/or physical impairments and their families are given individualized care to identify computer options (speaking machines) and non-electronic strategies to restore expression.