Scientists, society, and stuttering

SheikhBahaei, Shahriar; Maguire, Gerald A.

doi:10.1111/ijcp.13678

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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confidence: 99%

Enhancing ASR for Stuttered Speech with Limited Data Using Detect and Pass

Shonibare¹,

Tong²,

Ravichandran³

2022

Preprint

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It is estimated that around 70 million people worldwide are affected by a speech disorder called stuttering [1]. With recent advances in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), voice assistants are increasingly useful in our everyday lives. Many technologies in education, retail, telecommunication and healthcare can now be operated through voice. Unfortunately, these benefits are not accessible for People Who Stutter (PWS). We propose a simple but effective method called 'Detect and Pass' to make modern ASR systems accessible for People Who Stutter in a limited data setting. The algorithm uses a context aware classifier trained on a limited amount of data, to detect acoustic frames that contain stutter. To improve robustness on stuttered speech, this extra information is passed on to the ASR model to be utilized during inference. Our experiments show a reduction of 12.18% to 71.24% in Word Error Rate (WER) across various state of the art ASR systems. Upon varying the threshold of the associated posterior probability of stutter for each stacked frame used in determining low frame rate (LFR) acoustic features, we were able to determine an optimal setting that reduced the WER by 23.93% to 71.67% across different ASR systems.

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confidence: 99%

Enhancing ASR for Stuttered Speech with Limited Data Using Detect and Pass

Shonibare¹,

Tong²,

Ravichandran³

2022

Preprint

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“…Speech disfluency, particularly stuttering, can have a significant impact on effective communication. Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by repetitions, prolongations, and blocks in the flow of speech, which can result in communication difficulties, social isolation, and low self-esteem [2]. Stuttering can also lead to negative reactions from listeners, such as impatience or frustration, which can further exacerbate communication difficulties.…”

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confidence: 99%

TranStutter: A Convolution-Free Transformer-Based Deep Learning Method to Classify Stuttered Speech Using 2D Mel-Spectrogram Visualization and Attention-Based Feature Representation

Basak,

Mishra,

Chang

2023

Sensors

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Stuttering, a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder, profoundly affects fluent speech, causing involuntary interruptions and recurrent sound patterns. This study addresses the critical need for the accurate classification of stuttering types. The researchers introduce “TranStutter”, a pioneering Convolution-free Transformer-based DL model, designed to excel in speech disfluency classification. Unlike conventional methods, TranStutter leverages Multi-Head Self-Attention and Positional Encoding to capture intricate temporal patterns, yielding superior accuracy. In this study, the researchers employed two benchmark datasets: the Stuttering Events in Podcasts Dataset (SEP-28k) and the FluencyBank Interview Subset. SEP-28k comprises 28,177 audio clips from podcasts, meticulously annotated into distinct dysfluent and non-dysfluent labels, including Block (BL), Prolongation (PR), Sound Repetition (SR), Word Repetition (WR), and Interjection (IJ). The FluencyBank subset encompasses 4144 audio clips from 32 People Who Stutter (PWS), providing a diverse set of speech samples. TranStutter’s performance was assessed rigorously. On SEP-28k, the model achieved an impressive accuracy of 88.1%. Furthermore, on the FluencyBank dataset, TranStutter demonstrated its efficacy with an accuracy of 80.6%. These results highlight TranStutter’s significant potential in revolutionizing the diagnosis and treatment of stuttering, thereby contributing to the evolving landscape of speech pathology and neurodevelopmental research. The innovative integration of Multi-Head Self-Attention and Positional Encoding distinguishes TranStutter, enabling it to discern nuanced disfluencies with unparalleled precision. This novel approach represents a substantial leap forward in the field of speech pathology, promising more accurate diagnostics and targeted interventions for individuals with stuttering disorders.

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