Digital Application for Adult Stutters– Al-Lisan

Abstract

The objective of the study was to develop “Al-Lisan”, a digital application for the assessment and management of adult stutters in Urdu and English Language. The current study developed a digital application following development of a manual utilizing 12 experts including 6 Speech Language Pathologists (SLP) and 6 Psychologists. The assessment and management approaches were finalized through expert opinion and thorough review of literature. The manual was analyzed by both Urdu and English language experts for the content analyses. The Content Validity Index (CVI) was calculated. On the basis of the manual, the digital application was developed with the assistance of software engineer and face validity of the application was calculated. “AL-Lisan”, was developed in Urdu and English languages. It comprises of three informal assessment options including self-rating of stuttering, self-evaluation of fluency and the stutter rater. While Self-management techniques inculcated in the application are Easy onset and Flexible rate of speech along with breathing exercises. Setting option has all the record keeping options for both assessment and management along with the option of language switching and security lock of the application as well. It has a face validity of 0.9 for SLPs and 0.78 for PWS. Al-Lisan, with excellent face validity, provides the opportunity to stutters for self-assessment and self-management. It also provides PWS options of scoring and recording for all the assessments and speech exercises. It facilitate the users as a digital technology mediated support for therapeutic purposes with the consultancy of the SLP.