Dr. Ileana Howard is the Medical Co-Director of VA Puget Sound, an ALS Association Certified Treatment Center of Excellence, and will be joining us at our ALS Nexus conference to share her insights while exploring actionable steps to dismantle barriers to access, from advocating for policy changes to fostering community partnerships, to ensure everyone living with ALS has access to state-of-the-art care.

"I feel the more people that use their voices, the more attention we will bring to ALS, and the closer we will be to finding treatments and one day at a cure." Katie Adams is an advocate for people living with ALS, like herself.

Gayle Jacobs’ journey with ALS started in 2017 when she was diagnosed at the age of 44. An optimistic and positive person by nature, she realized what an incredible network of support she had surrounding her with her family and friends, and she quickly set her sights on how she wanted to live her life with ALS.

In recognition of National Volunteer Week, we are shining a spotlight on some of The ALS Association’s amazing, dedicated volunteers, and highlighting the incredible work they are doing to support our mission.

I am the legacy of Oscar Aukschun, who was a wood pattern maker and first generation American and a resident of Cleveland, Ohio who developed weakness of his hands and arms in 1943 around the age of 43 years. He was a hard-working father who provided for his wife and three children.

March 23, 2020 – We have received many questions about COVID-19 and its impact on people with ALS, their families, and their caregivers. We convened a panel of volunteers and staff to answer these questions – their bios are at the bottom. This situation is rapidly changing. We will update this FAQ as we receive more questions and more current information.

In response to congressional action, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified providers of a new option for expanded Medicare coverage for telehealth visits.  These changes temporarily remove originating site and geographic restrictions from coverage of telehealth under Medicare fee-for-service. 

ALS can be confusing, scary, embarrassing, and overwhelming – for people living with the disease as well as for the youth within their families. Young people need age-appropriate details about ALS to help reduce some of the fear and uncertainty surrounding the disease.

One aspect of care you may not have considered before is travel and transportation. ALS makes any kind of travel much more complicated, even local trips most of us take for granted, like going to the movies or visiting relatives.

People living with ALS eventually lose the ability to speak. That means that preserving channels of communication is an important component of enhancing quality of life. The ALS Association - DC/MD/VA Chapter took this to heart when they initiated The Esther Lerner Brenner ALS Assistive Technology Lab in Maryland, which is designed to help people living with ALS communicate effectively for as long as possible.

Your life can change in an instant. Carmen Berkley’s life did in 2015. She is one of the 6,000 people diagnosed with ALS each year. In the video below, Carmen shares with us what a visit to an ALS clinic is like for someone living with the disease.

Youth who help care for their loved ones with ALS are learning about important areas of ALS care – from physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, to social work and neurology -- through YCare, an education and support program developed and directed by Dr. Melinda S. Kavanaugh, Assistant Professor of Social Work with the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

People with ALS come first in everything we do. The ALS Association is dedicated to providing those fighting ALS, their families, and friends with the critical information, support, and resources necessary to live a full life and better meet daily challenges.

Home infusion is a safe and effective option available to hospital patients involving the administration of intravenous medications in a patient’s home or other alternate treatment setting. Infusions performed at home have been found to be safe, clinically effective, and improve patient quality of life while being less costly as compared to infusion care provided in a hospital setting. This also leads to fewer disruptions in patients’ personal schedules and responsibilities.

The ALS Association has worked on developing and implementing new educational tools to meet the needs and requests of our community. We are pleased to announce and highlight two of our newest projects - our resource guide series translated into Spanish and the Key Medical Information App - which are now available.

In late-February 2017, The ALS Association announced the release of 11 new Living with ALS resource guides on our website, www.alsa.org. The guides were designed to inform and educate people about ALS in a comprehensive and easily understood format, addressing many of the common concerns and issues that face people living with ALS.

Over the last year and a half, The ALS Association has been working with authors from Association Chapters, ALS centers and clinics and other ALS organizations to rewrite the original Living with ALS manual series, adding new and relevant content. The series has been developed for people living with ALS, family members, caregivers and other healthcare professionals, as well as our chapter and national staff.