I’ve written many times: helping others is one of the greatest happiness strategies.
A recent way I have been helping others is by donating my voice to people who live with voicelessness.
My involvement with this activity started when I read an article about VocaliD, a for-profit company.
It seems like an odd combination—a charitable donation to a for-profit enterprise, but I view my donation as going to the recipients, not to the company.
According to their Web site, “VocaliD was founded in 2014 and uses its cutting-edge technology to blend brief samples of a recipient’s residual vocalization with a comprehensive speech database recorded by a matched donor. The result is a voice that sounds like the recipient in age, personality and vocal identity but is as clear and understandable as the donor. VocaliD’s personalized voice service offers a breakthrough innovation empowering recipients to engage in conversation and be heard through their own voice.”
Over 12.5 million people worldwide are living with voicelessness due to cerebral palsy, Amyothrophic Laternal Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, throat cancer, etc., as well as individuals with low vision who rely on generic voices on their assistive communication devices.
I sign in periodically and, using my laptop and ear buds, I read and record sentences from stories they provide. The stories I have read have varied from excerpts of novels, to works of non-fiction, to TED Talks. I’m always given a choice of two selections to read from. After I finish, I am asked if I would like to read similar selections in the future, which will allow them to customize the options I am presented.
I enjoy reading the selections, even more so because I don’t schedule very much time for reading the kinds of selections I’ve been given. And, I feel the gratification that comes from helping others.
What are some things you do to help others? Please join the conversation with your comments…
Warm regards,
David