A speech disorder characterized by repetition or prolongation of sounds, syllables & words and blocks in speech, stuttering or stammering affects nearly 70 million people worldwide – that’s one in every 100 people.
Yet, there is a general lack of awareness about this speech disorder. This is perhaps why kids who stutter are often bullied at school and adults who stutter are discriminated against in the workplace.
Famous people such as US President Joe Biden, multi-billionaire businessman Richard Branson, singer & musician Ed Sheeran, and others have in the past narrated their struggle with stuttering.
Scientists are yet to find a perfect cure for stuttering. There is no magic pill.
Children or adults who stutter can benefit significantly from speech therapy or speech-language pathology – a field of expertise practiced by clinicians referred to as Speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Speech therapy can help people who stutter reduce or overcome their stutters.
But, speech therapy remains mostly inaccessible to millions of people who stutter because –
- Speech therapy is expensive
- Specialists are typically available only in major urban centers
- Parents (of children who stutter) or adults who stutter need to travel periodically to attend speech therapy sessions
These are the main gaps that modern-day anti-stuttering mobile apps are trying to bridge. Mobile apps for people who stutter cost a fraction of what one would pay for traditional speech therapy. In this post, we will discuss the best speech therapy apps for people who stutter, available in 2021. Read on.
Stamurai (4.7-Star Rating on App Store & 4.6-Star Rating on Play Store)
Currently, the highest-rated mobile app for people who stutter, Stamurai helps teens and adults who stutter by offering a customized daily speech practice regimen. Kids young enough to follow instructions can also use this app with or without parental involvement.
Available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store, Stamurai provides guided training plans, tools like DAF & metronome, and assessments.
Its like having your own personal speech therapy coach, available anywhere, anytime.
People who stutter can do reading & sounds practice, learn breathing exercises, and better understand their speech mechanism by using this smartphone app.
The app has been designed and developed by people who have battled the speech disorder themselves, with inputs from experienced SLPs.
DAF Pro (4.2-Star Rating on App Store)
A type of altered auditory feedback, DAF (Delayed Auditory Feedback) involves the extension of the time duration between speech and auditory perception.
It can include a piece of hardware comprising a microphone and headphone or a mobile app like DAF Pro.
When used for stuttering treatment or fluency shaping, the delay in a DAF device or smartphone app is generally kept around 50 to 70 milliseconds.
Besides stuttering treatment, DAF is also believed to help improve speech intelligibility in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Fonate DAF on App Store and DAF Professional on Play Store also provide the same facility. Stamurai, discussed above, also provides DAF functionality.
Disfluency Index Counter (4.5-Star Rating on App Store)
The SLPs use this app to calculate the percentage of fluent & disfluent syllables or words in the speech of a person who stutters.
People who wish to work on their stutters by taking the self-therapy route can also use this smartphone app.
The SLPs can do a live count to determine the percentage of stuttered syllables/words with the help of two buttons. They can use a simple or advanced counter. Latter enables an SLP to identify the type of disfluency (block, repetition, or prolongation) exhibited by a person who stutters.
Developed by Smarty Ears, a company known for offering a multitude of apps for speech, language & communication, mainly focused on children, Disfluency Index Counter is currently available on App Store for iPad and iPhone.