Daniel Challis was born and brought up near Walsall, surrounded by family members with distinctive regional accents. Yet his communication aid sounds nothing like them, instead vocalising in a robotic version of received pronunciation. The 18-year-old, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak, is appealing for people to audition to provide his new voice – if they have the right accent.
“I feel uncomfortable when using my current voice and I want to sound like people around me,” said Challis. “It’s very important to me because if I wasn’t disabled, I would not be using a computer to communicate.”
