Just curious if anyone would think this is a good idea

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Crimsonsloth

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So I've been thinking for this for quite sometime now and I'd feel like I would offend the very few people that I know that are deaf(as I am not that close to them) by posing this idea that I have.

To give a little background one day I saw something that made me pretty upset which I've seen many times over which is when people make fun of people for how they speak and in one of the most upsetting cases it was a deaf girl and some guys were mimicking her speech. Anyway I've always wanted to set out to achieve some sort of a difference in our society and then randomly while hanging out with my gf at her college it kind of hit me while watching someone play a video game(i know it sounds a bit random but there is alot of logic to it).

I thought of developing a computer program(I'm going to school for comp science and have 2 years left). This program would basically help the speech impaired... I have the structure in my mind worked out it's just finding the time to research everything because there are a lot of if's and maybe's and research that would have to be conducted and the money for equipment and hired help(hopefully I can pose a govt' grant for if the research proves a worth while idea and that's if our stupid economy gets fixed).

Well my main concern with this program is if people would actually want it if developed or if it would just be seen as some sort of an insult. So basically I'm asking if anyone of the deaf community and/or any one with a speech impairment thinks this is a good idea let me know what your thoughts are on this.

and just a side note if anyone thinks i'm just trying to scam money or take advantage of people or whatever, since we do live in a very suspecting society, i'm truly just trying to make a difference in the world especially since this would be probably just a side project of my life as I'll probably be working for some insurance company starting out my programming career and programmers get enough money as it is anyway. I think I'm also making up for my time that I spent overseas, it kills a little inside when you see or work with people everyday for a year that you can't help... but you actually could if the situation was dictated differently... sorry I feel like I've gotten really side tracked... anyway if you would be honest to tell me this idea is crap or not please reply back. Thanks for reading.
 
It may work for some deafs.

But it may also help the ones that are not deaf and are speech impaired.

I took speech therapy a lot as a child so maybe it will be a tool to assist them.
 
It actually doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. One thing though, during my speech therapy (at least during the first years of it, not so much later on) I would feel the speech therapist's throat to identify vowels and such while she was speaking. That would be one thing the software wouldn't be able to offer, and I think that feeling the therapist's throat made a huge difference. At least for me, anyway.
 
Or are you talking about a thing Blackberry sized that would actually speak, like Stephen Hawking's computer except more portable?

That might be useful for restaurants and stores.
 
I've been trying to find devices for the Governments such as polices, ER, Firefighter, so they can communicate in ANY language. You never know if you're facing Japanese-speaking family in a burning building! They might think they're on a TV show if you don't speak Japanese clearly. So a device like sidekick with modes that can speak or read their language and the same back to the holder.
 
AlleyCat said:
It actually doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. One thing though, during my speech therapy (at least during the first years of it, not so much later on) I would feel the speech therapist's throat to identify vowels and such while she was speaking. That would be one thing the software wouldn't be able to offer, and I think that feeling the therapist's throat made a huge difference. At least for me, anyway.
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I did the same. Feeling the vibration of my therapist throat and a mirror too.

And yeah the software may not help alone, but with the assistant of a therapist it may.
 
Do what your heart desires without worrying about deaf culture's insecurites. I use a CI, and I'm sure whomever developed it had no concerns about it. If it works, great, you helped many, if not, you can take this experience and apply it to another advanced project.
 
That's already possible. With a program like e-triloquist on a smaller laptop, you can voice things through typing. On the PDA front, you can download a screen-reader meant for the blind, set it to echo (speak) the words you type, and type in notepad.

That said, a deaf person who can speak is a deaf person who doesn't always need such technology, and in most cases, doesn't need it at all. There's no way to make a deaf accent really go away, although with some people, it's more profound than others. But it's nothing to be ashamed about or try to mask.
 
Aleser said:
That's already possible. With a program like e-triloquist on a smaller laptop, you can voice things through typing. On the PDA front, you can download a screen-reader meant for the blind, set it to echo (speak) the words you type, and type in notepad.

That said, a deaf person who can speak is a deaf person who doesn't always need such technology, and in most cases, doesn't need it at all. There's no way to make a deaf accent really go away, although with some people, it's more profound than others. But it's nothing to be ashamed about or try to mask.
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I agree to a certain point the deaf "accent" may not change. But it will help to improve the overall understanding of the speech.


I will always have a deaf accent. But my speech is clear enough for others to understand. I had speech therapy so it has helped

I have a deaf friend who can not even hear a jet overhead. He is totally deaf. And he has learned to speak but he actually Learned to whisper instead of totally using his voice. Almost like he is emphasising his lip reading to the hearing but with a whisper. Strange I know.

He is the only one that I know of that does this and it is very effective when he speaks to the hearing
 
Aleser said:
On the PDA front, you can download a screen-reader meant for the blind, set it to echo (speak) the words you type, and type in notepad.
Click to expand...

That's a good suggestion, but the only drawback would be the expense of the screen reader itself. As you're probably aware, the price of a screen reader is $700-$800.
 
Hear Again said:
That's a good suggestion, but the only drawback would be the expense of the screen reader itself. As you're probably aware, the price of a screen reader is $700-$800.
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Not on a smartphone. Mobile speak (which also has braille support for those of us that are actually deafblind, not just deaf) costs around 300$ retail. However, if you buy your phone, and mobile speak, through AT&T, they will sell it to you for 90$.

The other program I mentioned (on a laptop) is specifically meant for people who have difficulty speaking and does not function as a screenreader, and it's 100% free. The voices aren't amazing if you don't have ones you previously purchased (I use the voice that came with Zoomtext on it, neospeech paul) but it will definately still work.
 
Aleser said:
Not on a smartphone. Mobile speak (which also has braille support for those of us that are actually deafblind, not just deaf) costs around 300$ retail.

However, if you buy your phone, and mobile speak, through AT&T, they will sell it to you for 90$.
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Wow, Aleser. I've never heard of Mobile Speak. That's quite a deal for $90 -- and a much better alternative to paying $700-$800 for JAWS or Window-Eyes.

Now that I think about it, another screen reader comes to mind -- OmniPage. If I remember correctly, it only sells for $150.
 
Hear Again said:
Wow, Aleser. I've never heard of Mobile Speak. That's quite a deal for $90 -- and a much better alternative to paying $700-$800 for JAWS or Window-Eyes.

Now that I think about it, another screen reader comes to mind -- OmniPage. If I remember correctly, it only sells for $150.
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Omnipage is used to convert scanned text to regular text, as far as I can tell. The only free windows screenreader I know to exist, that is powerful enough for day-to-day use (but doesn't have braille support, I don't think) is NVDA, NVDA

But, yeah, mobile speak was an excellent deal, because I have internet access on my phone and can comfortably take my work anywhere without lugging a laptop and a braille display- just a tiny phone and my 12-cell bluetooth braille display, which is also very small.
 
Aleser;1121913 But said:
Off-topic...

I've heard of NVDA, but have never used it myself.

Out of curiosity, what 12 cell Bluetooth Braille display are you using?
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Babyblue said:
I did the same. Feeling the vibration of my therapist throat and a mirror too.

And yeah the software may not help alone, but with the assistant of a therapist it may.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Speech therapy is largely interactive, and requires participation from both the client and the therapist. Feedback provided during the session is very important.

Crimsonsloth...you might want to observe some speech therapy sessions before you get too far into the planning process.
 
hey sorry I was gone for the weekend I only get to see the gf a couple times every month which sucks. Well I'm glad people dont think it's a bad Idea.

To further go into it if you missed some of what I was saying... the research part is further going to figure out if this program would be able to work. My idea involves a very very complete visual way to learn proper annunciation for an example one of them would be the use of motion capture in and around the mouth which is one of the more minor ways I think would help but trust me there is a whole slew of things that would be implemented in this program. I have done lot's of thinking it's just the research I'm going to have to do to confirm said thoughts.

The program at first would just be an at home thing probably even schools or therapists use too depending on the popularity which is best case scenario as in everything actually works and the research is positive. I think it might be alot easier as a learning tool for children but I have some faith that adults would be able to improve with it but then again that's what the research is for. Anyway theres alot too it sorry I can't say more right now the gf wants to play some settlers online... I'm really glad for everyones input!
 
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