ALFA - Aparelho Lúdico para Fonoterapia e Alfabetização

Abstract

Studies in the area of Speech-Language Pathology have found ineffectiveness in the methods used in the treatment of phonological problems in children. The main obstacles are the shortage of tools and alternatives for the help of speech therapists, educators and parents involved with children who present problems of this nature. From this, the project Linguistic Apparatus for Speech Therapy and Literacy (ALFA), comprised between the areas of Electronics, Informatics, Speech-Language Pathology and Pedagogy; has as main objective to assist professionals in the field of speech therapy in the treatment of people, especially children, who present such changes, ie difficulty in articulation and pronunciation of speech sounds in the Portuguese language, as well as those that are in the process of rehabilitation after cochlear implantation. The project proposes a system consisting of an audio input device whose abstractions make up a vector of descriptors that is passed to an intelligent algorithm responsible for indicating the correctness of the phoneme. The ALFA consists of four steps: research on the intelligence aspects of the system; data capture for training, validation and machine learning tests; building a low-cost microphone; and finally, the construction of the network itself. At the same time, the ludic interface of the system is implemented. The results obtained with the accomplishment of the first three stages were positive in relation to the acceptance of the target public, the last tests with the KNN classification algorithm presented a syllable accuracy rate between 0% and 60%, and both success in the construction of the circuit of capture of audio of low cost, as in its tests in laboratory. From the results achieved during the project development, we intend to perform new tests to define the best machine learning technique, as well as to implement the ludic interface in the system. In this way, it will be possible to test the system designed with at least one patient in speech therapy and in a literacy class, proving its effectiveness.