The gift of voice – Meet Elena

In her childhood, Elena could never sit still for long – chasing a ball around the soccer field, running on the track or playing netball. She loved being active and being part of a team. 

But when she was 15, she started to notice changes. She became clumsy – missing catches she would usually make with ease and tripping over her own feet. Running became exhausting for her, even though she had once set a school record. 

“I dropped a plate one day at dinner and mum saw that my left arm was becoming weaker with every passing week,” Elena shared. “I kept saying I was fine and left it for a full year before my brother finally took me to the hospital after I fell over from an accidental nudge .” 

Just before her 17th birthday, Elena received her motor neurone disease (MND) diagnosis. She was still in school, being told that she had a disease that would gradually take away her strength, independence and eventually, her voice .

Shortly after her diagnosis, Elena was connected to MSWA via her Physiotherapist, Ben, who introduced her to hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and later to the many services that have supported her for over eight years. 

With the support of the MSWA Speech Pathology team, Elena has found new ways to express herself and rediscover her own voice. 

Bradley, her MSWA Speech Pathologist has supported Elena for almost four years. Their sessions are calm and encouraging – they read poetry together, practise breathing and play word games like Taboo.

“Everything, we do in our sessions have been helpful honestly. We do breathing exercises, talk about life and what is currently going on in each of ours. We work on my speech and increasing my volume,” Elena comments. 

After each session, Elena feels empowered – a huge gift for someone that is living with a disease that often makes her feel powerless. To Elena, it doesn’t feel like therapy – it feels like catching up with friends who help her navigate the new normal. 

The biggest gift of all has been her eye-gaze machine. It tracks her eye movements and speaks the sentences she wants to say. At first, it had a robotic voice. 

“My friend sent me videos of 13–14-year-old me, Bradley used that as the base for me.” 

Utilising the short audio clip and artificial intelligence (AI), Bradley created a voice profile for Elena, so that her eye-gaze machine could “speak” in her voice. 

“My family hadn't heard my voice in years, almost ten years now. So, when it was ready, I didn't tell them straight away about it.” 

“We had a family meeting set up and I asked that mom set up the device for me. I had to wait until everyone was silent and I just said, 'Hello guys, did you miss me?' 

“My younger siblings hadn't remembered that this was how I sounded like and all my older brothers went outside for a few minutes. They came back in and kept asking questions so that I would write long replies.” 

Today at 25, Elena’s condition has progressed quickly, having lost her mobility and voice. However, thanks to MSWA, she’s able to live with dignity, joy and hope. 

“Living with MND is strange – I know exactly how to do everything, but my body fights me at every turn . If I don’t have a way of communicating, what would be the point?”

Did you know 1 in 5 hours of speech therapy is funded by donations to MSWA . Some Clients are funded just 10 hours of speech therapy per year – barely enough to make real progress.

Speech is more than just words – it's connection, identity and dignity. The MSWA Speech Pathology team works to protect one’s speech for as long as possible and when speech fades, our team helps people find new ways to express themselves, so no one is left unheard. 

Your donation can help people keep their voice and connection for longer.