The ability to see what a person's tongue is doing while speaking has been the goal of speech professionals for decades. Historically, they have used techniques ranging from coating the student's tongue with a mixture of honey and charcoal powder, to using flashlights and tongue depressors in an effort to aid those with speech difficulties. However, the Palatometer tool is enables users to see what an individual's tongue is doing without coating it. The Palatometer allows users to see real-time continuous and isolated speech production versus one sound at a time with the tongue-coating method. It also gives users the ability to model what the correct tongue-to-palate contact should be, and the ability to see these contacts in real-time has proven effective in teaching and training individuals with speech disorders.
Credits: Michael Horito, IDSA, John R. Omdahl, Lee Croy, Mark Schulte and Bryan Sparks of Rocketship, Inc., and Andy May of CompleteSpeech
