SPEECHIE

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Language impairment (LI) in children is often attributed to various factors including intellectual disability, autism and hearing loss. However, it is reported that approximately 7% of the global childhood population experiences LI in the absence of evident causative factors [1]. Children with LI are often faced with social communication, behavioural, educational and vocational difficulties. Such disorders can be complicated when children have a bilingual or multilingual exposure, which is a common occurrence worldwide. This has particular relevance to the language-learning context of Maltese children. LI in children can often be addressed by a customised intervention programme drawn up by a professional speech-language pathologist (SLP) on the basis of assessment and regular review of the child's speech and language skills. However, children often lose engagement when subjected to repetitive therapy activities and lengthy assessment procedures. This impinges on the effectiveness of intervention. Moreover, speech-language sessions offered in public health clinics often take place during school hours, disrupting the child’s routine. Furthermore, with guardian(s) often being engaged in full-time work, it becomes an issue to accompany children during the sessions.

Within this context, five academics from various departments within the University of Malta and an industrial partner, teamed up to design and implement a novel, multi-modal device, for which the name SPEECHIE was coined, in order to facilitate language therapy for children with LI both within and beyond the clinical setting. Dr Ing. Philip Farrugia from the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering is the lead inventor of SPEECHIE. Dr Ing. Farrugia will provide expertise in adopting a user-centred design approach for the device development and in other aspects of product development including Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modelling and prototyping. Prof. Helen Grech, the deputy Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Head of the Department of Communication Therapy, is an expert in speech and language acquisition in bilingual children and developmental speech sound disorders. From the same department, Dr Daniela Gatt will provide her expertise on early vocabulary production in children brought up in bilingual settings who are typically-developing and who present with vocabulary delays, and on related assessment and therapy principles for the latter. Prof. Ing. Simon G. Fabri, from the Department of Systems and Control Engineering, will be involved in the development and testing of the required backend speech recognition algorithms. Dr Ing. Owen Casha will be providing expertise on the design and implementation of the embedded system platform including the interfacing of the sensors, actuators and peripherals. Dr Casha is a member of the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics within the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology. Mr Anthony Demanuele, software developer and co-founder of Flying Squirrel Games Malta Ltd., will be coordinating the tasks required by the industrial partner. These concern the software frontend development of SPEECHIE, particularly the integration of speech recognition algorithms in a game which is compliant to industrial standards.

The project (reference number R&I-2015-042-T) is under the coordination of Dr Ing. Philip Farrugia and financed by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) through the FUSION Technology Development Programme 2016. SPEECHIE will be developed as a smart educational toy that entices children to engage with the designated exercises by creating a more rewarding and motivating environment. The device can be used at the child’s own pace to improve speech and/or language skills. The device will also take on a clinical dimension in assisting SLPs in assessment and continuous monitoring by recording children’s output and subsequent analysis. The device will also allow an SLP to remotely carry out intervention activities in the presence of the guardian(s) in the comfort of their home. All of these features have the potential to improve the speech and language skills of children, which in turn would reflect positively on their learning, behaviour and social interaction. SPEECHIE aims to improve the quality of life and contribute to the health sector. Due to its multi-disciplinary nature, this proposal cross-cuts with other specialisation areas, namely high-value added manufacturing, engineering, ICT and healthcare. Preliminary investigations clearly indicate that existing patented systems have only limited similarities compared to SPEECHIE and that the device has a huge international market potential and economic impact.

[1] Leonard, L.B. (2014) Children with Specific Language Impairment (2nd ed.) Cambridge: MIT Press.