For families living with ALS
ALS in Middle Tennessee.
If you or someone you love was just diagnosed, this page is the one we would want you to have. Everything below was link-checked in August 2026. Nothing here is a marketing page for us. Most of these links go to other organizations who do this better than we could.
Start here
The first thirty days.
Assembled from the ALS Association, the Social Security Administration, the VA and Team Gleason. In roughly this order.
- 01
Get into a multidisciplinary ALS clinic.
For Middle Tennessee that is the Vanderbilt ALS Clinic, an ALS Association Certified Treatment Center of Excellence. One visit, the whole team.
- 02
Contact ALS Association Tennessee care services.
This assigns you a regional Care Services Coordinator and opens access to equipment loans, home assessments and financial assistance grants.
- 03
File for Social Security disability now.
ALS is a Compassionate Allowance. The five-month SSDI waiting period and the twenty-four-month Medicare waiting period are both waived for ALS.
- 04
If you are a veteran, file with the VA.
ALS is presumptively service-connected at a minimum 100% rating. Every VA medical center has an ALS Coordinator.
- 05
Start voice and message banking while speech is strong.
Team Gleason can fund it, but apply before you spend, because past costs cannot be reimbursed.
- 06
Enroll in the CDC National ALS Registry.
Free, online, and it connects you to research recruitment.
- 07
Look at clinical trials.
Use the ALS Trial Navigator, and ask the Vanderbilt team about the ALL ALS study, because Vanderbilt is a site.
- 08
Get help for whoever is caring for you.
Call 1-866-836-6678 for your Area Agency on Aging and Disability about TennCare CHOICES, and the Tennessee Respite Coalition about respite vouchers.
ALS clinics in Tennessee
A multidisciplinary ALS clinic puts neurology, physical and occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, speech-language pathology, nutrition, social work and an ALS Association liaison in one visit. It is the single most important thing to get connected to after a diagnosis.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center ALS Clinic
ALS Association Certified Treatment Center of Excellence. The Middle Tennessee clinic.
Vanderbilt ALS Research Center
Research center focused on biomarkers and early detection; a site for the NIH ALL ALS study. Recipient of a 2026 TShaw Strong grant.
East TN Center for ALS Care and Research
Certified Treatment Center of Excellence at The University of Tennessee Medical Center.
ALS Clinic of the MidSouth
Certified Treatment Center of Excellence at Semmes Murphey, serving West Tennessee.
ALS Clinic at Erlanger
Recognized Treatment Center. Meets the third Tuesday monthly; a physician referral is required.
Care services and support groups
The ALS Association serves Tennessee directly through state Care Services staff, including a Middle Tennessee coordinator. Note: older alsa.org chapter pages still load but are years out of date, so use the links below.
The ALS Association: Tennessee
The current, correct Tennessee page. Care Services staff by region, clinics, equipment loans, home assessments, financial assistance grants, support groups.
Connect with Care Services
Intake form for a Tennessee family to reach a Care Services team member: newly diagnosed, equipment loans, caregiver and bereavement support.
Middle Tennessee Support Group
Hybrid in-person and virtual group for people with ALS, caregivers and families. Third Tuesday of the month, 1:00 p.m. CT. Call before attending in person, because the venue is not published.
Knoxville Support Group
In-person. Fourth Thursday of the month, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET.
All ALS support groups
The full national directory, filterable by state. Schedules live here.
Equipment and assistive technology
ALS equipment is expensive and needs change fast. Loan programs exist specifically so families are not buying a wheelchair they will outgrow in eight months. Apply before you purchase, because most programs cannot reimburse.
Tennessee DME Loan Closet
The ALS Association's Tennessee durable medical equipment loan closet. Gently used equipment and assistive devices loaned at no cost, plus limited financial aid toward devices not in inventory.
Team Gleason: Need Assistance
One application for all Team Gleason assistance: speech-generating device co-pays and loaners, power wheelchair loans, shower chairs, seat elevators, home automation, eye-gaze wheelchair control. Apply before purchasing.
Team Gleason: Technology and Equipment
What the program actually covers, in detail.
Tennessee Technology Access Program (TTAP)
Tennessee's state assistive-technology program: funding assistance, device demonstration, device loan and device reutilization. Housed in the Department of Human Services.
MDA Resource Center
Muscular Dystrophy Association helpline for neuromuscular disease, including ALS care center referrals and DME assistance.
Voice and communication
Do this early. Voice banking and message banking work best while speech is still strong, and Team Gleason can fund the cost. Waiting is the most common regret families describe.
Team Gleason: Voice Preservation
Voice and message banking guidance, and funding for the associated costs.
Voice banking, from Your ALS Guide
Plain-language overview of every voice banking option and what each costs.
Speech generating devices, from Your ALS Guide
Device vendors plus the Medicare rules that govern them, including the one-device-per-five-years limit and the hospice and skilled-nursing exclusions.
Tobii Dynavox: AAC for ALS
Eye-gaze and speech-generating devices, with an in-house insurance funding team. Tim communicates using an eye-gaze system.
Benefits, insurance and money
ALS has faster benefit pathways than almost any other diagnosis, because Congress and the SSA built exceptions into the rules. Most families do not know these exist.
SSA policy: ALS waiting periods waived
The authoritative citation. The 24-month Medicare waiting period has been waived for ALS since 2001; the 5-month SSDI waiting period has been waived since July 2020.
Signing up for Medicare with ALS
The ALS Association's plain-language version of the above.
TennCare CHOICES
Tennessee Medicaid's long-term services program, covering in-home and community care. Apply through your Area Agency on Aging and Disability.
Tennessee Disability Pathfinder
Free statewide disability information and referral service, run by the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. Available in eight languages.
Veterans
Military veterans are roughly twice as likely to develop ALS. Since 2008, the VA has treated ALS as presumptively service-connected, so a veteran with 90+ days of service and an honorable discharge does not have to prove the disease was caused by service.
VA ALS System of Care
Presumptive service connection, the ALS Coordinator at every VA medical center, multidisciplinary care and telehealth.
How to apply for VA benefits with ALS
The two applications you need, and why to work through a Veteran Service Organization. ALS carries a minimum 100% rating.
VA Tennessee Valley Health Care System
Nashville and Murfreesboro medical centers plus clinics in Clarksville, Gallatin, Columbia, Cookeville, Tullahoma and elsewhere. Ask for the ALS Coordinator.
Caregivers and respite
ALS is a diagnosis for a household, not a person. Respite is not a luxury; it is what keeps a caregiver functional over a multi-year illness.
Tennessee Respite Coalition
Nashville-based statewide nonprofit providing respite vouchers, volunteer coordination and caregiver health education.
GNRC Family Caregiver Support Program
The Area Agency on Aging and Disability serving greater Nashville: resource counseling, caregiver education, support groups, respite care.
Find your Area Agency on Aging and Disability
Calling 1-866-836-6678 from anywhere in Tennessee routes you to the nearest AAAD.
Alive Hospice
Nonprofit hospice, palliative care and grief support serving Middle Tennessee for fifty years.
The ALS Association: for caregivers
National caregiving guidance specific to ALS.
Research and clinical trials
This is the part TShaw Strong exists to fund. It is also something a Tennessee family can participate in directly, because Vanderbilt is an active ALL ALS study site.
ALS Trial Navigator
Free trial-matching platform from ALS TDI and NEALS. A guided questionnaire, a worldwide map, and a filterable browser. The best starting point.
ALL ALS Consortium
NIH-supported research consortium running the PREVENT and ASSESS studies across 35 sites. Vanderbilt is one of them.
National ALS Registry (CDC)
Congressionally established registry. Any U.S. resident with ALS aged 18+ can enroll online. Enrollment connects you to research recruitment and the National ALS Biorepository.
NEALS: search for a trial
The Northeast ALS Consortium's trial resources.
National organizations
TShaw Strong does not try to duplicate what these organizations already do well. Where a family needs them, we point at them.
The ALS Association
The largest national ALS organization: care services, equipment, insurance navigation, support groups, advocacy, research funding.
Team Gleason
Founded by former Saints safety Steve Gleason. Assistive technology, communication devices, mobility grants and adventures. A TShaw Strong partner since 2016.
I AM ALS
Patient-led. One-to-one support from an ALS Support Specialist, virtual support groups, practical and financial guidance.
Your ALS Guide
Free, plain-language, genuinely practical. Guides on daily living, respiratory care, equipment, insurance, employment and home modification.
Les Turner ALS Foundation
Chicago-based, but its national educational library (the ALS Learning Series and My ALS Decision Tool) is open to everyone.
ALS Therapy Development Institute
Nonprofit ALS drug discovery lab, and home of the ALS Research Collaborative natural history study.
Something here out of date?
Health resource links rot. This directory was reviewed on 2026-08-31. If a link is dead, a support group has moved, or we are missing something that helped your family, tell us and we will fix it.
This page exists because of donors.
Keeping a directory like this current is unglamorous work. It is also, for a newly diagnosed family at 2 a.m., the most useful thing on this website.
EIN 92-2550544