Unfamiliar listeners' evaluation of speech supplementation strategies for improving the effectiveness of severely dysarthric speech

Abstract

This study examined listener attitudes toward three speech supplementation strategies (topic cues, alphabet cues, and combined topic and alphabet cues) associated with the speech of four individuals with severe dysarthria. Listeners saw experimentally imposed visual images of each strategy in conjunction with auditory presentation of the habitual speech of four individuals with dysarthria. Using a 7-point Likert scale, listeners rated how effective they thought the speakers were, how willing they would be to communicate with the speakers, and how persistent they were in trying to understand the speakers in each strategy condition and a control condition in which no cues were provided. The results revealed that ratings of communication effectiveness, willingness to communicate with the speakers, and listener persistence were each more favorable in the combined cues condition than in any other cue condition. The results suggest that augmentative and alternative communication strategies providing frequent and specific cues regarding the content and constituent words of a message may enhance the attitudes of listeners.

• attitudes
• dysarthria
• speech supplementation