Speech production technology

[TourEiffel]

Has anyone tried speech production technology, such as Stephen Hawking used, for PSP patients? Was it successful or not? Our speech therapist is asking us to consider it since we cannot understand my husband any more. Thanks

[Amstel95]

I have heard indirectly about someone who has done this - I’ll try to find out more and get back to you if I do.

[TourEiffel in reply to Amstel95]

Thank you for your reply. We are seeing a consultant along with a speech therapist this week, and I was curious about the experiences, if any, of others as to the efficacy of the use of technology.

[Bergenser]

We did voice banking - with the generous support of PSPA - and the "Speak Unique" solution "repaired" the voice from the recordings, to create a synthetic version of my husband's own voice. He could get use this through a mobile app to communicate in his own voice. It worked and was worth doing. However the speech problems go together with other issues - loss of dexterity, slowness of thought, difficulty with word finding - so my husband is no longer using it. I think we may prepare a small number of phrases so he can use it on a larger devise making it easier to select the phrases he needs.

There are lots of solutions that can do "text to speech" if your husband can in any way type the words. There are others that can work through simpler choices of words and phrases.

Zerachiel shared some experience of Smartbox thinksmartbox.com/

which you might explore?

The loss of voice is a profound loss and the loss of communication is really hard on the relationship so I hope you find solutions that help.

I wish you the best and hope you will share how you get on. 🌻🤗

[TourEiffel in reply to Bergenser]

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, we are at the point where we cannot do voice banking and he cannot type. A consultant is coming with a speech therapist and they will evaluate his situation and suggest solutions to try. As you have said, the communication loss is devasting and the source of much frustration.

Thank you for your concern, I will certainly post regarding the outcome in hopes of being helpful to others.