Congresswoman battling brain disorder delivers House speech using a text-to-voice app

Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) stepped to the microphone on the House floor Monday to speak about one of her latest pieces of legislation, as she has done many times before during her five years in Congress.

But the voice that gave the speech wasn’t hers — it was from a text-to-voice application, an assistive device she uses to help her navigate a degenerative brain condition with which she was diagnosed last year.

Wexton’s disorder — progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) — has largely affected her ability to speak, hear and move. With the help of the assistive app, the congresswoman on Monday spoke about legislation she introduced to rename a post office in Purcellville, Va., after former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who lived in nearby Hillsboro, Va.

“PSP makes it very difficult for me to speak, and I use an assistive app so that you and our colleagues can understand me,” Wexton said in her remarks. “I am proud to be here today speaking in support of my bill to rename the Purcellville, Virginia, post office in honor of my former constituent.”



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