Computer assisted treated for motor speech disorders

A software tool has been developed to help stuttering children and Parkinson disease clients improve their speech fluency. This tool is used by speech therapists in hospitals and by the patients themselves in their own homes. This personal computer based system is intuitive to use, cost effective, and easily integrated into current speech rehabilitation regimens. The software provides the visual and audio feedback required for clients to be aware of their speech patterns. The program plays a goal phrase and displays an amplitude plot of the signal. The client repeats the phrase, the magnitude of which is superimposed over the goal phrase in real-time. The software compares the speech patterns and documents the progress of the patient in detail. The supervising speech pathologist specified which displayed signals and measured parameters would be useful for improving the speech rehabilitation process. These features enable the client to continue practice at home for delays and months before returning to the clinic. The results of the patients´ trials are stored in a disk, which the patients bring to the therapist at each clinical visit. This feature contributes to lowering the costs of speech therapy. This paper describes the software tool and its main features. Preliminary results are also discussed