A body-worn Delayed Auditory Feedback Fluency Aid for stammerers

Investigations of the impact of altered auditory feedback in‐the‐ear devices on the speech of people who stutter: initial fitting and 4‐month follow‐up

“…Another therapeutic signature specific to device-based therapies that deliver signals to reduce stuttering is their cosmetic appeal or lack thereof . In the past, technology restricted prosthetic devices to be notoriously, conspicuous body worn, incorporating additional head worn pieces for signal delivery (Donovan 1971, Gruber 1971, Grant 1973, Pollock et al 1976, Low and Lindsay 1979. These devices, although often effective at various levels depending on quality control of the manufacturer, architecture, and signal delivery system, often failed to be embraced by those who stutter because their physical dimensions brought immediate and additional unwanted attention.…”

“…inconspicuous self-contained at the ear-level). That is, technology has been limited to conspicuous devices that are body worn incorporating additional head worn pieces for signal delivery (Donovan 1971, Gruber 1971, Grant 1973, Pollock et al 1976, Low and Lindsay 1979. Only recently was a self-contained earlevel device for application with those who stutter achieved .…”

Self-reported efficacy of an ear-level prosthetic device that delivers altered auditory feedback for the management of stuttering

“…Each of these auditory alterations has been found to immediately reduce stuttering frequency, although DAF and FAF have proven to be more effective that MAF (Howell et al, 1987;Kalinowski et al, 1993). With empirically established ameliorative benefits, various electronic devices (for example, Edinburgh Masker, portable fluency aids) have been developed to treat stuttering (Gruber, 1971;Dewar et al, 1979;Low and Lindsay, 1979;Stuart et al, 2003). However, these electronic devices need to be evaluated for their abilities to deliver 'effective' and 'efficient' treatment of stuttering and to be compared to other therapeutic modalities (for example, behavioral therapies) using similar criteria.…”