Do Delayed Auditory Feedback devices like Speech Easy work?
Did you know there was no research about the Speech Easy when it was released in June 2001? And that despite Oprah claiming it to be a miracle device, Speech Easy states they do not cure stuttering?
First, let’s describe a bit about DAF and the Speech Easy for context.
Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) - basically, our own voice speaking back to us at a measured delayed rate.
Some suggest that people who stutter (PWS) have an abnormal speech-auditory feedback loop - which, by the way, this seems to be true for some, but certainly not all, PWS. I was unable to find any suggestions to how many PWS this impacts.
Regardless, there were devices and contraptions to trigger DAF - they were clunky. I remember trying one out - I’m not sure exactly when it was, but I’m going to guess I was about 9 or 10 years old. I hated it. The noise upset me to such a degree that my levels of stress and anxiety heightened. When I was asked to try again, it the first time I ever remember throwing a fit at speech therapy. My grandmother wanted me to press on, but I held my ground. The SLPs informed my grandmother that they wouldn’t force me to do anything, and that they’d follow up with me later to see if I wanted to try again.
I never did.
I may have even said, “I’d rather stutter for the rest of my life than use that.” To fully appreciate the impact of that, I did not enjoy stuttering. I was in speech therapy to help reduce my stuttering, and I wanted it to go away. But if stuttering is the Democrat’s Mitt Romney, then DAF was the Donald Trump. You can hate one thing, but hate what follows it significantly more to the point of openly professing a preference for the former.
Anyway….
In June 2001, the “Speech Easy” was released. It uses DAF and an alteration in frequency (FAF) to mimic “choral speech”, since do not stutter when reading together out loud with others. It was a revolution in the stuttering world because of a few things - it was portable, so people could use it outside of the speech therapy room. It was small, and looked like a hearing device. It called itself the “anti-stuttering” device, a name it still holds to this day.
I will be referring to stuttering devices as “working” or not in regards to fluency, since that is the goal of the device. “Working” in this context means “less visible stuttering.”
Speech Easy: The World’s Smallest Anti-Stuttering Device
There’s something to be said of how well this name and association is marketed. Easy speech - that’s pretty clear. The act of stuttering is associated with difficult and stressful speech. Easy speech is a promise. ‘Smallest’ is obviously a factor for portability and discretion. But “anti-stuttering” is one of the factors I think really puts this over the edge. Typically speech therapy focuses on fluency. Softer words are usually chosen - ‘reduce stuttering’ ‘ease stuttering’ ‘increase fluency’. To be “anti” is a very strong stance. I imagine this appealed to people. Even if not interested in the content, you can’t help but pay attention to strong stances.
Newspaper Clipping for “Speech Easy” 1
The earliest article I found was a newspaper clipping on November 5, 2001 from “The Greenville News” in Greenville, South Carolina, by the paper’s Health Editor. It starts off with, “Stuttering can keep a child from participating in class or after-school activities. It can stop adults from forming relationships or hinder their careers. But a new device may help people break out of the isolating world of stuttering by enabling them to control their speech.”
Already off to a GREAT start that I could nitpick, but I’ll stay focused this time. But it clearly is presenting the ‘problem’ of stuttering as an extreme thing that is ruining people’s lives. I’m not sure who this concept is supposed to be for.
Regardless, at this point, a few months after its launch, it had been used by 31 people worldwide, and is priced at $4,000. 4,000 dollars in 2001 equates to about $6,900 today.
One of these users is a 14-year old South Carolina boy who had been “teased by his classmates for his speech disorder.” The main complaint of the 34-year old who stutters and is interviewed is the way classmates teased him and job interviewers dismissed him.
(As a fun aside, it does shoutout to the South Carolina Upstate chapter of the National Stuttering Association, which is currently run by John Moore.)
Janus Development Group
Speech Easy is owned by the Janus Development Group. There’s not a lot of information about them, but early newspapers (January 2002) admits that they did not have research on their side. They did not know if this would have any long term effects - and happily sold it to children.
To be fair, their motives were good. They openly advocate against the idea that “stuttering is psychological or behavioral, saying those notions are as damaging as the disorder itself.” Dr. Joseph Kalinowski, a person who stutters himself, led the charge, and complained about the fluency-shaping techniques he learned as not sounding natural enough. 2
Good intent, to me, doesn’t negate ethics. It bothers me that this was sold as a medical device for children prior to research having been done. Maybe that’s ironic, since I’m pushing for more acceptance-based methods of speech therapy. But I’m not trying to sell you a device for $6,900 with any promises, so I feel okay about my decisions.
I do want to make this clear: Speech Easy was never claiming to “cure” stuttering. Their handbook makes this clear many times, as well as every article I could find in newspapers. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how much acceptance was found in the handbook. It encouraged people, while using the device, to continue to speak even if they stutter.
There was interesting conversation about American Institute for Stuttering’s blog in 2009-2010 with Dr. Kalinowski - I’ll link to it below. 3
My other big issue with Speech Easy is that the return policy is 60-days, and “full refund less 10% market value.” For one - that isn’t a full refund. That’s a 90% refund, or less if the person got it on sale. Sure, it’s a personalized device, but the language is misleading. Two - many people report that it stops working for them around the 2-3 month mark. This feels like the Ford Focus car 5-year warranty, when everything falls apart year 5 month 1
The Oprah Effect
Although they claimed not to be a stuttering cure, there’s nothing like some Oprah involvement to promise unfounded claims and give false hope to thousands of people.
In 2003, Speech Easy blew up: 20/20, Good Morning America, and ABC Primetime. The claims are that it helps 80% of people who stutter reduce their stuttering - an unfounded claim. And then worse, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah calls it a miracle-worker medical device that can instantly cure stuttering.
I cannot begin to unpack the level of damage this single advertisement from Oprah caused. A miracle device that will cure stuttering for ‘millions’. To get an idea, listen to the StutterTalk episodes 192 and 194 from 2010, which includes Mark Babcock - one of those on Oprah - follows up on how the effectiveness wore off, and the disappointment that came with it. If nothing else, watch this youtube video (less than 5 minutes) from StutterTalk - it’s a clip of both the Oprah show and then part of their interview with Mark. 4
And those stories are pretty common. I know many people who have tried the device and it didn’t work at all. And those for who it did work, it stopped working after an amount of time. Perhaps my pool has a particular bias - one would assume that if Speech Easy is entirely effective, they might be less incline to join a stuttering community. Additionally, devices like Speech Easy can be looked down upon in stuttering acceptance community - which I truly think is a shame. If the person enjoys using the device, who would I be to judge them? For me, the issue with Speech Easy is the heartbreak of the many people who had hope for this ‘miracle cure’, spent a ton of money (Mark mentions his parents spending $11,000), and then felt the rug was pulled out from under them… really sucks.
In episode 194, Rebecca Glass still used her Speech Easy (as of 2010), but even she didn’t use it daily. She said it was more helpful with her friends to not use it, and to accept the stuttering in those moments. She also complains about the way the device picks up external noises - but to be fair, this is a fairly old model.
There are a handful of people where the device continues to ‘work’ and they continue to use it. Like I said earlier, if someone enjoys using the device, that’s totally okay. My issues are: the false hope instilled, the money people lose, the idea that ‘fluency’ is necessary for success, denial that someone is a person who stutters, calling these devices a ‘cure’, the shame people feel when it doesn’t ‘work’.
My issues are: the false hope instilled, the money people lose, the idea that ‘fluency’ is necessary for success, denial that someone is a person who stutters, calling these devices a ‘cure’, the shame people feel when it doesn’t ‘work’.
Is the Speech Easy something that preys on people?
I don’t believe it was intended to be.
But the craze of it certainly did prey on people. Additionally….
1) Not offering any compensation if it “wears off” after day 60 of the purchase … feels gross to me. Even a partial refund for the first year would make me more comfortable. Additionally, the return policy should be on the same page as the device prices, in my opinion, but it is buried in their FAQ page, at least?
2) It needs to be mentioned on their website that the commonly mentioned suggestion that it “reduces stuttering in 75-80% of stutterers” is NOT TRUE. There is currently very vague language about the amount of people who stutter it “works” for.
3) The effectiveness wearing off is DENIED on their website - their FAQ on this question states that “proper” use of the device by the client will have longlasting and ongoing fluency. I.e. if it stops working, it’s your fault. Somehow I doubt this is a researched view.
Modern Day Apps
I imagine part of the Speech Easy’s possible decline in ethical practices, provided it was once there, could be due to the fact that there are now apps that claim to do what the Speech Easy does. And since those apps don’t cost $2,500-$4,500, their sales have likely dropped pretty significantly.
Additionally, the technology has changed pretty rapidly since then. I imagine the Apple AirPods Pro would be a gamechanger about canceling out external noises. But I didn’t do any research on those apps, so I can’t speak to that. :)
Final Thoughts
Really long blog short: When I look at the way Speech Easy impacted hundreds of people who stutter, I am left disgusted. Especially when the open problems these stutterers face is that people are mean to them or discriminate against them. The problem is not the stutter. This was made really clear over and over. The problem is the way society reacts to and treats stuttering.
The solution is not to fix the stutter. Even with devices like the Speech Easy, people are encouraged to accept that they will stutter when they speak. Denying the reality is never helpful. And no device will ‘save’ you completely, or give you the life that you seek.
I think it’s really telling that even the ‘miracle cure’ from Oprah advises people to accept that they will stutter on words.
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If you somehow stumbled upon this blog, my name is Ezra and I am a person who stutters. You can follow me here and on my instagram account, Stutterology, where I advocate for better ‘treatment’ of people who stutter. I hope you enjoyed this post. Comments should be on if you’d like to share your own experiences with Speech Easy or other DAF devices.
FOOTNOTES:
1 The Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. (November 5, 2001, pages 1D and 3D). “Devices provide hope for stutterers.” Accessed via Newspapers.com.
2 The News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. (March 27, 2002, pages 1A and 17A). “Plucky prof halts his stutter.” Accessed via Newspapers.com.
3 More discussion on research of the SpeechEasy device, by Carl Herder. Published 10 February 2010 on American Institute for Stuttering: https://www.stutteringtreatment.org/blog/more-discussion-on-research-of-the-speecheasy-device
4 StutterTalk, podcast. (April 2010, episodes 192 + 194). Accessed via stuttertalk.com.