"Having a distinctive voice is like getting something back that was stolen," John said. The effort to build an international "Human Voicebank" has attracted more than 17,000 volunteers from 110 countries. It was eight years after he was diagnosed with ALS. Pandya began recording her voice last summer, using headphones and speaking into her computer as she read from her screen. Those people were usually able to record their own voices before they lost the ability to talk. Some are practicing English or performing community service. The effort to build an international "Human Voicebank" has attracted more than 17,000 volunteers from 110 countries. Patel is also a speech technology professor on leave from Northeastern University. Since she announced the voicebank two years ago, the response has been overwhelming, she said, with volunteers ages 6 to 91 logging on all over the world. For volunteers, it can take six to 10 hours to record the 3,500 phrases required to complete a voice sample. Patel said she is continuing to simplify the process to build voices efficiently. "Even people who are speechless have sounds that are unique to them." More than six years had passed since his voice had become unclear to everyone except his wife and youngest son. The main character is a teenager with cerebral palsy, which affects movement and muscle use. The main character is a teenager with cerebral palsy, which affects movement and muscle use.