Tactile stimulation as an aid for the deaf in production and reception of speech: Preliminary studies

The present studies are an initial part of a project, the aim of which is development of a cutaneous communication aid for those born profoundly deaf or who become profoundly deaf before acquiring speech and language. A vocoder-type speech analyzer was interfaced to the tactile and visual displays of an Optacon (a reading aid for the blind) so that a time-varying spectral representation of the acoustic signal was displayed. In the production studies, 12 profoundly deaf children, 2-4 years old, were divided into three groups. Progress was assessed in terms of relative frequency of CV production. The group using the visual display and the group using the tactile display showed significant progress. The control group showed no progress. In perception studies adults served as subjects. They were trained and tested on identification of 1) duration, 2) vowels, and 3) spondee words. The tasks were increasingly difficult in the order named. Subjects showed gradual improvement during six weeks of training.