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Telephone Assistance for People with Speech Disabilities

Posted by Bob Segal,man, Ph.D. on January 15, 2007, 12:52 am

FACT SHEET: TELEPHONE ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH SPEECH DISABILITIES by Bob Segalman, Ph.D. Do you have a speech disability and live in the USA (including the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico)? If so, you can now use a free telephone service 24 hours a day. “Speech to Speech” (STS), provides communication assistants (CAs) for people with difficulty being understood by the public by telephone. The Federal Communications Commission in Washington DC regulates STS: STS is a form of relay service. STS is also available in Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. STS is provided through the TTY relay in each state. Unlike TTY, STS users communicate by voice through a CA as many people with speech disabilities have difficulty typing. People with speech disabilities can dial toll free to reach a patient, trained CA who is familiar with many speech patterns and has excellent language recognition skills. This CA makes telephone calls for them and repeats their words exactly in a 3-way calling environment. Every month users make about 12,000 calls nationally. STS is the only way for many people to telephone others not accustomed to their speech. Many STS users have Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, ALS, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy or stroke. Other users stutter or have had a laryngectomy. STS helps speech synthesizer users, users of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). AAC users may ask the STS CA set up the call, negotiate the menu, introduce the call explaining AAC and then go into the background. This enables AAC users to communicate independently once the other party is on the line. Dr. Bob Segalman had cerebral palsy and developed the concept of STS. Now it makes telephone use much easier for me. To try out STS, report problems or request information: Call 711, request STS and ask for him at 916 448 5517. Visit the STS website: www.speechtospeech.org where you will find the Speech-to-Speech 800 access numbers. You can also access STS by dialing 711 and asking for Speech to Speech. If the CA can not place an STS call for you, please e-mail Bob (drsts@comcast.net).



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Message Thread: Telephone Assistance for People with Speech Disabilities - Bob Segal,man, Ph.D. January 15, 2007, 12:52 am Re: Telephone Assistance for People with Speech Disabilities - Teresa February 27, 2007, 6:58 pm « Back to thread

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