Reordering disordered speech: The search for speech prostheses
H. Timothy Bunnell · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2001
The development over the last quarter century of computer-based speech processing has allowed investigators to (a) modify disordered speech as a means of gaining a better understanding of its nature, and (b) look toward the possibility of altering disordered speech to enhance its perceived naturalness or its intelligibility. Harry Levitt and his colleagues [H. Levitt, IEEE Trans. Audio. Electroacoust. 21, 269–273 (1973); M. J. Osberger and H. Levitt, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 66, 1316–1324 (1979)] were among the first to examine the possibility of enhancing disordered speech via computer speech processing. Since then, a number of other investigators have taken up this line of research, employing a variety of speech processing techniques to examine issues raised by Levitt (1973), particularly regarding the relative importance of temporal versus spectral distortions in determining the intelligibility or naturalness of disordered speech. In this work, I will trace some of the history of this line of research, including work that Grace Yeni-Komshian and the author have conducted [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 637–647 (1998)], and subsequent related studies.