Speech and Language Practitioners' Experiences of Commercially Available Voice-Assisted Technology: Web-Based Survey Study.
Pranav Kulkarni, Orla Duffy, Jonathan Synnott and 2 others
PMID 34989694WHAT IT FOUND
Of 230 surveyed UK speech and language therapists, 181 had not used commercial voice assistants with clients, but 166 of those wanted to try them and 198 wanted training.
Therapists who had used them reported speech feedback, independence and confidence, not evidence they improve speech.
Key findings
01Of 230 analysed therapists, 181 had not used voice assistants with clients, but 166 of those would like to use them in the future and 198 said they would benefit from training.
0249 therapists reported using voice assistants with clients and described 57 cases across 10 client groups; 28 cases were for day-to-day tasks and 21 were for speech therapy practice.
03Therapists who had used the technology reported increased independence in 22 of 57 cases, confidence in 5 cases and speech feedback in 9 cases, while 105 of 208 respondents worried the devices might not understand clients' speech.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The survey was limited to UK speech and language therapists. It may not apply to other countries. It was web-based, and people chose whether to respond. Therapists who were already comfortable with technology may be over-represented. The analysis included 230 completed responses. The planned sample size was 289. The study reported perceptions and experiences, not measured client outcomes. It cannot show whether voice assistants improve speech, confidence or independence. The survey did not ask whether clients already used the devices or were introduced to them by the therapist. Partial responses were excluded. People who did not finish the survey are not represented.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the reported benefits as proof that voice assistants improve speech, confidence or independence. The survey recorded therapist perceptions and experiences, not client outcomes measured against a control group.