When Anthony Vitale learned he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 1993, the news had a big impact on his life, but couldn't affect his basic nature. Vitale is an enthusiast.

For this 51-year-old resident of Northboro, Mass., keeping thoroughly active in mind and body has always been a way of life. A natural linguist, Vitale may have been unconsciously influenced by his own last name since childhood. As an adult, he kept trim by running four miles a day, lifting weights and playing tennis. Vitale found ways to challenge the mind, too.

A Fulbright scholar and inveterate traveler with a doctorate in linguistics from Cornell University, Vitale loved visiting and teaching in exotic, sometimes troubled areas such as Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire, Czechoslovakia and Poland.

He learned foreign languages such as French, German, Italian, Polish and Swahili. Later, he would compare the experience of having ALS to arriving in a foreign land, having to learn strange customs and unfamiliar terms such as fasciculation, fibrillation and riluzole.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
-- Albert Einstein

Over two decades ago, Vitale began marrying his linguistic skills to an interest in computer technology and started designing electronic systems to enhance the communication abilities of people with disabilities.

One system he helped develop at Digital Equipment Corporation, where he has worked for 13 years, is called DECtalk. It produces spoken sounds to represent words typed on a keyboard.

Three years ago, Vitale learned he had ALS, the devastating disease that causes widespread and progressive loss of muscle function, leaving the mind unaffected and often proving fatal in only a few years.

Now jogging, tennis and weight lifting are things of the past. Vitale's mobility has greatly diminished and he uses a motorized wheelchair to get around.

Ironically, since ALS began to affect his powers of speech, Vitale now uses his own system, DECtalk, to compensate for his own disability.

Belief is a wise wager. If you win, you win everything; if you lose, you lose nothing.
-- Blaise Pascal

Vitale's wife of 18 years, Jeanine, literally dodged bullets with him in strife-ridden Tanzania and now is the greatest source of moral strength in his daily battle with ALS.

Work itself provides comfort. Vitale is determined to continue refining DECtalk as long as his ALS will allow.

"I can take steps to compensate for the loss of physical abilities and continue working," Vitale says. "Having ALS provides an advantage, an insider's view of the communication challenges faced by people with disabilities."

Vitale has been busy helping MDA, too. He's made speeches at MDA fund-raising events and written for MDA's The ALS Newsletter. In 1995, he appeared on a local broadcast of the MDA Telethon.

Vitale's ongoing work on DECtalk and with MDA helped him earn the honor of being named 1996 National Personal Achievement Award Recipient. The award, which was announced on the national broadcast of the 1996 Telethon, recognizes the accomplishments of people with disabilities caused by any of 40 neuromuscular diseases.

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
-- Galileo Galilei

"For decades, MDA's Telethon has been working to spotlight the abilities of people with disabilities," said MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis. "Outstanding achievers like Tony Vitale really put those abilities into a very dramatic perspective."

Vitale turns to Einstein, Pascal, Galileo, Donne and other great thinkers for inspiration. Once, he met a contemporary great thinker, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who also has ALS.

The discussion turned to what they'd do if they won the lottery. Vitale said he'd probably retire in luxury to a Caribbean island. But Hawking firmly corrected him, saying Vitale would continue with his work, just as Hawking has continued with his. Vitale knew Hawking was absolutely right.

Because of ALS, Vitale says he has met many wonderful people he wouldn't otherwise have known. Without irony, he says he can well understand the famous words of another accomplished man who had ALS, Lou Gehrig: "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth."