Analysis of Stutter Signals with Subsequent Filtering and Smoothening

Abstract

The problems of communication disorders are many. The individual who suffers from such a disorder, such as stuttering, faces difficulty in getting his or her point across. Communication is a holistic process which spans multiple levels. An error in any one level can lead to misunderstanding and may even result in severe repercussions. People who stutter have a disadvantage. The time lag between what a person without this condition says and what a person with this condition says is appreciable, as stuttering causes many words, vowels and fillers to be repeated. This paper suggests a method for improving communicability of stutter signals obtained from audio recording. Under the method suggested, audio signals are read and spliced into different portions depending on the length of the given signal. Presence of stutter type repetitions are assessed by applying loops. Repeated signals, if present, are eliminated using windowing techniques. In totality this results in the smoothening out of the signal and removing disfluency-inducing repetitions.