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When Kevin Neff stood at the lectern in his cap and gown recently, he spoke to his fellow graduates in the Iowa State University (ISU) College of Business with a new voice. They recognized Neff. He was the guy who greeted them at the front desk of the Student Services office with a dry-erase board or a talking computer. Many asked him questions in a loud voice, and he would write back, "I can hear. I just can't speak."

Neff had no voice for three-and-a-half years. The voice he speaks with today is stronger, clearer and mellower than it was before he lost it. "I am not the same person I was four years ago," Neff said. "I honestly believe that this time without a voice was for a reason."

After graduating from high school and attending the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Neff began working in the building materials industry and moved up the ranks to management. When the housing market began to collapse in 2006, he became a licensed financial advisor. Neff, his wife and their two sons moved from Indiana to central Iowa in 2007, and he went to work for Edward Jones.

Just after Halloween Neff met one of his first clients in her home. She was recovering from a virus, but some family members were still sick. Neff caught the virus. Because he is asthmatic, it affected his lungs. The muscles in his neck tensed up, and his voice steadily grew weaker. By Thanksgiving he could talk only in a whisper. A doctor assured Neff his voice would return when the virus passed, but it didn't.

Neff saw an ENT specialist, but the doctor found no medical reason to explain why the muscles controlling his vocal cords had tightened and locked. The ENT diagnosed his condition as functional dysphonia and referred Neff to a speech-language pathologist.

After a few weeks of speech therapy, Neff still couldn't talk. He saw specialists at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, in Iowa City, where he underwent the same tests and received the same diagnosis. "On the drive back from Iowa City, my wife and I realized that this could be permanent," he said.

Although Neff continued working using a speech-generating device, he grew increasingly discouraged and was terminated in June 2008. Struggling to find another job hunt, he fell into a deep depression. "I knew I needed a change," he said.

During an Iowa Workforce Development vocational rehabilitation workshop, Neff learned about a tuition assistance program for full-time enrollment in state schools. He was approved for the program and accepted at Iowa State. During his early semesters as a finance major, Neff relied on paper tablets and dry-erase boards to communicate. The faculty and staff were supportive and accommodating.

"Without the people in the college and ISU's Student Disability Resources office, I would be right back where I started," Neff said. "They encouraged me, gave me opportunities to succeed, and were always ready to help."

He landed a rather surprising campus job in fall 2009. Neff was hired to be the "first point of contact" in the Student Services office, where undergraduates go to ask questions about everything from academic requirements to financial aid.

"I knew I would need to get comfortable with people face to face and learn how to communicate, and that was the prime place to do it," Neff said. "The Student Services staff was fantastic and very patient with me."

Neff regularly sought better technology to help him interface with the world. A new iPad with the Speak It program spoke the words he typed. It used a voice he chose to be his permanent vocal identity. It worked with PowerPoint, so Neff was able to give class presentations.

By the end of spring semester 2011, Neff had been without a voice for three-and-a-half years. As he was about to begin an administrative assistant internship with the Iowa National Guard, he opened a friend's email.

"I'll never forget the day - May 16 - I got the email about a doctor in Cleveland who helped a woman with a problem like mine," he said. "I contacted the doctor and got an appointment."

He drove to the Cleveland Clinic and met with Claudio Milstein, PhD, CCC-SLP, a speech scientist with clinical interests in laryngology and voice disorders at the Head and Neck Institute. Following an initial examination, Dr. Milstein told him, "I might be able to help you."

Dr. Milstein used deep tissue massage on Neff's temples, throat and neck. Doing warm-up exercises used by singers, Neff gargled and tried to make the "m" sound. "Within 15 to 30 minutes, I combined letters and started to make sounds like "me" - something I hadn't done in three-and-a-half years," Neff said. "By that point I was crying because I knew I'd be able to talk again."

Dr. Milstein moved and massaged his larynx, and Neff spoke combinations of letters. He said his ABCs and counted to 10. His voice was weak, but he had a voice. After an hour Dr. Milstein instructed Neff to go to the window of the seventh-floor office and yell at a passerby. Within minutes Neff was yelling loudly. His voice was nearly normal.

Armed with vocal exercises and assurances that the condition would not return, Neff headed home, talking all the way.

When Neff addressed his fellow graduates in the ISU College of Business recently, he told them to expect change and keep their priorities straight. Being mute had been humbling, and he had gone from a comfortable life to living on the edge. He's had to ask for help, to listen, to find a way to make it work, and to stop being afraid.

"During my time at Iowa State, I've realized that everything is possible, even with a disability. You cannot give up. It's just a matter of finding the right people to support you and encourage you - to give you opportunities," he said.

Neff, who graduated summa cum laude, is now headed to graduate school and looking for the best career fit for "who he is now."