Ear Gizmo Helps Stop Stuttering

gregger writes "This little thing that looks like a hearing aid is called a "Speecheasy." It sits in your ear and creates something called the "choral effect" which in essence echoes what the wearer is saying. The real choral effect (i.e. when you recite something in a group like pledges of allegiance or other dark rituals) seems to help people that stutter speak more fluently. The price for this thing is quoted in the KRON TV story as being between $3,600 - $5,100. Porky Pig's insurance won't buy it for him either."

Comments

Stuttering Darth Vader

[AtariAmarok]

Odd that you should mention Darth Vader. James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth and CNN, had a stuttering problem that he struggled to overcome in childhood.

Re:Insurance shouldn't pay for this

[rickwood]

While insurance coverage (or the lack thereof) isn't really the topic at hand, I submit the following article for your perusal vis a vis "The Health Insurance Situation":

http://www.guerrillanews.com/corporate_crime/doc20 01.html

The article details the 1996 testimony in front of the congressional Health and Environment committee of Dr. Linda Peeno. To quote from the introduction,

Dr. Linda Peeno is a former medical reviewer for Humana, a large health insurance provider based in Louisville, Kentucky. While working for Humana, Dr. Peeno had an epiphany when she discovered that a sculpture of a tall, thin woman by Alberto Giacometti - which was displayed in the rotunda of the company's Louisville HQ from 1987 to 1994 - cost $488,000. It was roughly the same amount as the cost of a heart transplant for a Humana patient for which she had recently denied payment on a technicality, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

Obviously this site has an agenda of its own, and I can't say I agree with their conclusions on every matter. In this case however, I believe they have a valid point to make concerning the nature of the health insurance industry.

And to try to add at least an air of topicality to this post, I did notice one thing: this device seems very expensive, even taking into account that it is a medical device and subject to stricter regulations. Hopefully increased production will drive the cost and thus the price down. From what I understand from other posters who have suffered from stuttering, this little thing is like an answer to a prayer. I would hope that every child that needs one will get one, even if they are poor, or their stuttering is a "pre-existing condition".