How can I get my mom to communicate with us when she cannot speak?

My sister lived in a nursing home and was intubated, and couldn't type due to Parkinsons. They made a board with all the letters of the alphabet on it and she could point to the letters to spell what she wanted. They had a space for the end of a word, and the basic punctuations. They also added some other full words: Thirsty, hungry, pain, toilet, sad, quiet, please, thank you and.... Yankees. I think dry erase is a great idea if she has use of her hands. If not, the spelling board is great. No technology needed.

I had a friend use a dry erase board about a foot wide.