Opportunities and Challenges of Designing Assistive Technologies for Aphasia Patients in Singapore: The Case of a Speech Evaluation Prototype

Abstract

Aphasia is a language disorder caused by brain damage, resulting in difficulties with speaking, understanding, reading, and writing. This study focuses on addressing challenges faced by local therapists in aphasia treatment. Through an ethnographic study involving observations and interviews, critical issues in current technological solutions for aphasia treatment were identified. These issues include the lack of feedback during patient training, limited localized content, repetitive materials, and a lack of options for conversational speech training. In our study, we tried to address one of these issues concerning automatic evaluation of patient speech pronunciation. By utilizing public datasets and local patient data, we developed a system that provides accurate pronunciation scores and personalized feedback, assisting therapists in guiding patient progress. The system supports customized pronunciations, including local accents and dialects. The system is designed for multiple platforms, ensuring accessibility, and can be extended to involve speech therapists to enhance its capabilities. This study emphasizes the importance of integrating research insights with clinical practice, empowering therapists, and enhancing the quality of aphasia treatment.