Stuttering-treatment programs rely on daily speech measurements. They are how clinicians understand each client’s stuttering and how they ensure their treatment is effective. Mostly, programs that are well researched (such as the Lidcombe Program) were developed before easy access to digital technologies. So, typically, clients have recorded measurements on a piece of paper they take to appointments.
I’m excited to be helping Oseh Mathias with SpeechFit, an app he’s developing so you can note speech measurements on your phone, during your day, and your speech pathologist can access the ratings. It’s also got a cool recording function, where you record speech and even mark up the sample, making notes for the speech pathologist to review. (Currently such samples are often sent via Whatsapp etc but such platforms haven’t been built with health privacy in mind). SpeechFit has been built to be HIPAA compliant.
Oseh is organising SpeechFit so that it works with stuttering programs for children and adults. I’ve enjoyed working on this with Oseh and using it with a few clients (PC version). Currently Oseh is working on a phone app version; I’m looking forward to using this routinely in The Stuttering Clinic in 2024.
I’ve seen digital technologies assist health professionals in adjacent fields (eg, physiotherapists using PhysiApp to guide homework) for many years. I'm thrilled to have a developer willing to spend the time innovating in speech pathology and particularly stuttering. When you compare the number of physiotherapy customers to the number of people seeking therapy for stuttering, you realise this is a small market. Here Oseh explains his motivations: “I have had this problem (stuttering) for my whole life and, as you get older, it changes the landscape of opportunities. Getting support at a younger age means other people won’t have to go through these struggles, and if I can support parents in helping their kids overcome stuttering, or if I can help a teenager practice more easily, or an adult reduce their stuttering, then I am grateful for that opportunity and will do my best to fulfill it.”.