Asperger's Conversations

SpeechMatch in Quicktime

In my previous post I talked about teaching people with autism spectrum problems how to match the speech patterns of their conversational partners using a free downloadable audio editing software that I've been using for podcasting.  I posted a screencast in Windows Media and this moring, re-produced the 30 second clip as a quicktime file for you Mac folks:

Download speechmatchQT-R.mov

Special thanks to Jon Udell for teaching me how to create instructional screencasts.  I will post a more detailed screencast soon on using audacity for both SpeechMatch and for creating errorless modeling programs.  These technologies are especially helpful for developing clinical interventions for individuals with autism and Asperger's Syndrome.

SpeechMatch using Audacity

I have long been interested in capitalizing on psycholinguistic research from years ago (e.g., Joan Welkowitz, Stanley Feldstein and others) which showed that individuals who were more socially effective were able to match the patterns of sounds and silences of their conversational partners.  They measured certain parameters of speech, including how long people talk (called vocalizations) or how long they paused (pauses and switching pauses), or how loud they spoke (vocal intensity) and showed that people who were best able to "tune in" and match these elements of speech of others (called vocal congruence or "matching") were rated has exhibiting positive characteristics of interpersonal functioning, including the old standbys of empathy, warmth, and genuiness.

More recently I have been successful in developing a kind of "biofeedback" program using a free downloadable audio editing program called Audacity.  I have been using this program, which I typically use for other purposes such as recording my podcasts, to provide VISUAL feedback of speech patterns to individuals with autism or Asperger's Syndrome.  The procedure is simple:

After turning on the recording function of audacity, I begin to speek (e.g, "I am going to walk the dog").  I then ask the person with autism/AS or NVLD to look at my pattern of speech and repeat my statement, making their pattern look just like mine.  In this way, I am teaching the person with autism/AS/NVLD to "talk like me."   To observe a trial with a 22 year old college student with HFA, observe the brief screencast below:

Download speechmatch.wmv

This screencast is in Windows Media and I will post this one and others in other formats (e.g., Quicktime) as soon as I get the chance to do so.

I have presented SpeechMatch at two recent meetings, including one on non-verbal learning disabilities and one on social anxiety and selective mutism.   The response has been very positive and I believe it will be of great interest to speech and language therapists and others working with individuals with autism spectrum problems.  I am embarking on a small study to examine, in greater detail, the effectiveness of this program and would appreciate your feedback.