Analysis

[Stepstar]

By way of introduction, I am 54 years old, have three Masters degrees and 30 years of business experience including 15 as an analytical professional. I stutter moderately with approximately 80% speech proficiency and have been through many different speech therapies. I tried the SpeechEasy device for approximately 6 weeks in the summer of 2004.

Although this analysis is obviously based upon personal experience, I believe there are pragmatic observations and assessments that can be extrapolated.

1) The device creates an excessive amount of ambient/unwanted noise in the wearer's ear. So much so as to create a situation where the wearer needs to alternately and consciously 'tune-out' the hearing aid's ambient noise broadcast and consciously 'tune-into/listen to' the hearing aid's broadcast when the wearer is speaking. In anything other than a minimal sound environment, there is always something 'yelling' in one's ear. Turning the device's gain down to 'one' does not solve the problem, it merely lessens the volume of positive speech feedback the wearer is able to hear. Turning the device's 'volume control' down or off merely reduces the ability to hear anything, including the device's auditory feedback.

As such, the device desperately needs an ambient noise filter. The technology for such is readily available (perhaps not on a micro scale). The closest analogy I can make is to that of a RocknRoll singer in a band: the singer is singing into a stage microphone but all the highly amplified, very loud sounds generated by the bass player, drummer, etc are filtered out so that only the singer's voice is amplified.

2) The device is supposed to permit reasonably 'normal hearing' through the ear that has the SpeechEasy installed. This is not the case. Any speech directed toward the device wearer from the side the SpeechEasy is installed is either significantly garbled or if the device's 'volume' is turned down, completely unheard. This is unacceptable and is akin to being deaf in the ear the SpeechEasy is installed.

3) When fitting the device to a wearer, there is apparently no consideration given to the brain's Right/Left sidedness. It is neurologically accepted that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and that the left side controls the right. Different sides of the brain control Speech, cognitive ability, reasoning, the emotions, etc.

The SpeechEasy device is all but indiscriminately assigned to the wearer's 'telephone' ear or whatever ear the wearer is forced to select and live with after only a brief test of the device in the clinician's office. Where is the research, definitive recommendations and test data demonstrating which ear (therefore which side of the brain) is appropriate for the SpeechEasy device broadcast?

4) SpeechEasy's marketing tactics and excessive for-profit pricing are highly questionable. Despite the company's extensive claims to the contrary, given the low price-point (actual cost) of the device's hardware and software, both the company's marketing and pricing tactics are absolutely outrageous. For awhile, the device was actually marketed as a cure but clinician pressure forced the company to revise such claims. Even 30 day tryouts are disgracefully priced. The company is taking advantage of people with a handicap who have little place else to turn. Shame on these greedy bums.

5) The device has been promoted to the public for +/-3 years. Where is SpeechEasy's post-installation research demonstrating what happens to device wearers after a year, or two years, or three years? After awhile, can a stutterer 'exist' without the device in his ear, does a dependence grow? Or does the stutterer's brain go the opposite way and begin to automatically 'tune out' the device lessening its ability to assist speech? As currently configured, the device asks a lot of the wearer, do long term wearers tire of the demands and forego the device?

Money is not the issue, the company is clearly highly profitable. Why is there no serious post-installation research being conducted? It is my prediction that after initial sales success, the device will slowly fade into the stuttering background as outside research finds that most people stop using the device after a time period. The one exception will be severe stutters for whom anything is better than their existing condition.

If you have any questions, require additional elaboration on any point or request analytic feedback on aspects not discussed above, please do not hesitate to contact me direct at (212) 724-8148 or via email at Stepstar@att.net.

- Stephen M Starensier

[admin]

Thank you, Mr. Starensier, for posting on the SpeechEasy Discussion Board such a candid description of your experience with our product. We regret that the device did not meet your expectations, and understand that the return is being processed.

Janus acknowledges that SpeechEasy does not offer sufficient benefit to approximately 20% of those who are evaluated, and this has been pretty consistent since the product first became available. With that in mind, we also acknowledge that for those who find the benefits sufficient enough to justify purchase, the level of benefit derived from device usage may vary considerably from person to person. Sometimes the benefits experienced by a user are not “externally” apparent to observers; but the client may value the “internal” benefits, such as more spontaneity, no need for word substitution, and the like.

Following are comments regarding each of the five points/questions raised in your post.

1) Ambient Noise - Much research and advanced technology has been incorporated into SpeechEasy to minimize ambient noise. Intelligent Noise Attenuation Technology and Effective Voice Activation Technology both serve to reduce the volume of environmental noise and provide greater listening comfort. Furthermore, a recent software upgrade was made available which further reduces background noise. While every effort has been made to minimize environmental noise in SpeechEasy, some people are either unable to adjust or have a hypersensitivity to noise. For this small group of people the SpeechEasy may not be a viable option; but even for those who test with improved fluency, a trial period may help to determine this. A recent Customer Satisfaction Survey (489 SpeechEasy users responded) revealed that 70% wear their device at least 4 hours a day and that 45% wear it more than 7 hours a day. Seventy percent wear their devices 5 to 7 days a week and report a positive to very positive impact on their lives. These results indicate that a large number of people make a successful adjustment during their trial period. Furthermore, two out of three respondents reported that their fluency continued to improve the longer they used their device. Complete Survey results are available here: http://www.speecheasy.com/speecheasy_cu ... esults.pdf

2) Hearing Through SpeechEasy Ear - since the signal from SpeechEasy is delivered at a slight increase in volume to offset occlusion, some users actually report that they hear better in that ear. However, until they become accustomed to the presence of a frequency shift and delay, some have reported difficulty understanding what they hear in that ear. Even if wearing the SpeechEasy was “akin to being deaf” in one ear as you suggest, after a period of adjustment most SpeechEasy users learn to listen to the sound of their voice through the SpeechEasy, and listen to others through their other ear. For example, a baby born with no hearing in one ear and normal hearing in the other will experience no negative effect on their development of normal speech and language because the one good ear is sufficient. The SpeechEasy user usually has one normally functioning ear- but some must learn to selectively use that ear. A few are unable to accomplish this and the reason remains unknown.

3) Right Brain/Left Brain - prior to the release of SpeechEasy, published research clearly demonstrated that fluency gains through the use of altered auditory feedback were equally effective regardless of the ear used. The title of the article is "Effects of monaural and binaural altered auditory feedback on stuttering frequency" and it was published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, (1997). This article, and a full bibliographical list can be found here: http://www.speecheasy.com/research_publ ... earch.html

4) Marketing – Janus Development has never claimed or marketed SpeechEasy as a “cure.” Unfortunately, some of the early media exposure (in which Janus Development had no control or involvement) created some unrealistic expectations for the stuttering population. Quite the contrary, Providers are specifically trained to use the “eyeglass” analogy. SpeechEasy is a prosthetic device that helps when worn, but has no defined carryover benefit...just like glasses. It is presented to Providers as an alternative or complement among their therapeutic options.

5) Long-Term Efficacy – Janus Development (and the entire professional Speech-Language community) agrees with you. There is a distinct need for independent longitudinal efficacy study. One such study will be performed through the speech-language clinic at Auburn University. Auburn has submitted a proposal that has been approved by their Institutional Review Board, and the study will launch shortly. You will see it announced on the SpeechEasy web site. In the meantime, East Carolina University has published short-term results of a small study (Stuart, et.al., 2003, International Journal of Language Communication Disorders, 38,1-21), and Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia has a study underway.

Again, many thanks for your comments and feedback. Please feel free to contact us with any questions concerning the issues above ... or others.

Janus Development Group

[Rob to da G]

All those answers are great and exactly what he wanted but there's got to be more to the story than what you're portraying Stephen.

In the 6 weeks that you wore the device, how long each day did you keep it in? The user needs to get acclimated to the device just like any other external piece of hardware. For example, I recently found out I needed glasses. As soon as I got them I couldn't stand seeing the outline of the frame in my peripheral vision and almost decided not to wear them at all. Once I kept them on for 8-10 hours a day, I soon didn't even notice them at all. The same goes for hearing aids, new jeans...hell, even baseball caps. The period of adjustment is just different for different people. I'm betting you kept the device in for a couple hours a day and then when you couldn't adjust, said basically to Hell with it and gave up.

I do agree on your point about cost. I think the reason for the cost is that 1% of the population stutters. So to offshoot the small client-base, the price for the device is upped. I don't agree with this either but hey, watcha gonna do?

Basically sir, your points are appreciated but you must realize that you are definitely in the minority here and even though you claim that we need to take your statements as personal experiences, it sounds a little like you're preaching.

This thing is a definite help. But it's a tool like anything else. I'm most certainly not going to get on LensCrafters message board and complain about how much I hate glasses.

[Bill Hargis]

All those answers are great and exactly what he wanted but there's got to be more to the story than what you're portraying Stephen.

In the 6 weeks that you wore the device, how long each day did you keep it in? The user needs to get acclimated to the device just like any other external piece of hardware. For example, I recently found out I needed glasses. As soon as I got them I couldn't stand seeing the outline of the frame in my peripheral vision and almost decided not to wear them at all. Once I kept them on for 8-10 hours a day, I soon didn't even notice them at all. The same goes for hearing aids, new jeans...hell, even baseball caps. The period of adjustment is just different for different people. I'm betting you kept the device in for a couple hours a day and then when you couldn't adjust, said basically to Hell with it and gave up.

I do agree on your point about cost. I think the reason for the cost is that 1% of the population stutters. So to offshoot the small client-base, the price for the device is upped. I don't agree with this either but hey, watcha gonna do?

Basically sir, your points are appreciated but you must realize that you are definitely in the minority here and even though you claim that we need to take your statements as personal experiences, it sounds a little like you're preaching.

This thing is a definite help. But it's a tool like anything else. I'm most certainly not going to get on LensCrafters message board and complain about how much I hate glasses.

It took me a long time to get used to my glasses, dentures, hearing aid, and speecheasy. A cane is in the future, all of them are tools and I need them.