DIRECTED RESEARCHRay Mancini | Prof. Tom Klinkowstein

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Most modern speech therapies have deficiencies, and no single technique works for everyone suffering from disfluency.

Can design thinking possibly form the foundation for a new, holistic method of therapy?

HYPOTHESISThis thesis presents the hypothesis that design thinking may offer a partial solution to deficiencies in modern day speech therapies.

In contrast to current stuttering approaches, which often set unrealistic expectations of perfection or focus on only one area for improvement, design thinking examines a problem holistically and promotes experimentation. Using human-centered design and a multi-disciplinary, “T-shaped” team, a robust system of speech disfluency evaluation and therapeutic implementation could be created.

Such research and comparison could bring interdisciplinary insight into understanding and circumventing the limited verbal communication of stutterers.

DEFICIENCY / DESIGN COMPARISONS

DEFICIENCYDESIGN

DEFICIENCYDESIGN

DEFICIENCYDESIGN

DEFICIENCYDESIGN

DEFICIENCYDESIGN

Expectation of perfection.Mistakes are aesthetically desirable.

Narrow treatment focus.Look at all aspects of a problem (context, history, environment) to achieve a successful solution.

No streamlining/filtering of spoken content.Simplify a larger message to its focused essence.

Many “one-size-fits-all” approaches.Every problem needs a unique approach.

Limitations will never allow “normal” communication. Limitations force us to be creative and explore different techniques to communicate effectively.

RESEARCH OUTLINE

1 : Overview

What is adult stuttering and speech disfluency?• scientific definition

• statistics • social and cultural relevance / stigma

My story as a stutterer • Description of my stutter from childhood until now • Therapies, techniques utilized by me, and their general results • Adapting to a life with an impairment (positives and negatives)

My story as a designer • The creative spark - becoming a designer • The need for expression outside of verbal communication

2 : Problem / Hypothesis

Define the Problem & Hypothesis

3 : Speech Therapies

1. Introduction to & descriptions of the main speech therapy approaches • Delayed Auditory Feedback and Anti-stuttering devices

• Medication• Fluency Shaping

• Stress / Iowa Therapies / Psychotherapy

2. General Deficiencies Associated with each therapy approach

3. Overall Deficiencies in all Therapies

4 : Design Thinking

1. What is design thinking?• Define design thinking (Tim Brown, Roger Martin)

2. The three spaces of innovation as defined by Tim Brown• Inspiration, Ideation, Implementation

3. Human-centered design• Insight, observation, and empathy

4. “Smart Teams” and brainstorming• How multidisciplinary, ”T-shaped” teams can be useful

5. Scenarios and creating a narrative “story”

5. Getting users to act as “Design Thinkers”• build on behaviors familiar to them• engage users to act as active participants in their own stories

5 : Ideation Phase

1. The current state of stuttering evaluation and therapy• Analysis of evaluation models and parameters currently used by therapists• Analysis of other approaches and theories

2. Human-centered observation and insight• Interview and discuss approaches with therapists and stutterers, finding out how they current administer and utilize therapy.• Interview and discuss experiences of adult stutterers, seeking insight into how they react to therapy, and their own stuttering.

3. Multi-disciplinary “Smart” team• Form a team of varied individuals to brainstorm the resulting data and observations, searching for meaningful patterns that can be utilized.• Use convergent and divergent thinking to create and eliminate options.

4. Prototyping and Testing• Work to create a new system of evaluation, getting feedback and revising until it is satisfactory.

6: Implementation

This section would illustrate how design thinking can “create” experiments and exercises that will push stutterers towards improvements in the revised “holistic therapy” categories...and within their own traditional therapies.

7 : Social Interaction, Community-based support, & Progress Tracking

Combine all aspects of this new “holistic therapy”and all relevant experiments into an interactive community, where individuals can potentially chart their progress, receive support, and create a self-therapy or augment their own traditional therapy.

RESEARCH SOURCES

SPEECH THERAPY• National Stuttering Association (NSA) • Stuttering Foundation of America• British Stammering Association (BSA)• Various Therapists• Specific therapy cases• My own current experiences and the experiences of others

INNOVATORS IN DESIGN THINKING• IDEO - Tim Brown, David Kelley• Roger Martin

DESIGN THEORIES / APPROACHES1. T-shaped Designers2. Transition Theory3. Analytic vs. Intuitive Thinking4. Other interdisciplinary applications of design thinking

ADRIAN HILLARTIST, ART THERAPIST, EDUCATOR (1895-1977)

Discovered the therapeutic benefits of drawing and painting while recovering from tuberculosis

Coined the term ‘art therapy’

Said the value of art therapy lay in ‘completely engrossing the mind (as well as the fingers)

Suggested artistic work to his fellow inpatients, who were documented in 1945 in a book, under the title, “Art Versus Illness”

INTERDISCIPLINARY INNOVATION

TIM BROWN CEO AND PRESIDENT OF IDEO

Spoke of “T-shaped People, individuals with a deep skill set in their chosen field, plus a broader range of interdisciplinary and social skills.

Able to explore insights from many different perspectives and recognize patterns of behavior.

WIDENING ONE’S KNOWLEDGE BASE

MALCOLM FRASERPHILANTHROPIST, BUSINESSMAN, STUTTERER (1903 - 1994)

Founded the Stuttering Foundation of America using $10 million of his own money

Authored “Self-Therapy for the Stutterer”, providing guidance for stutterers to help themselves without conventional therapy.

CONTINUOUS EXPERIMENTATION

VALORIZED DESIGNER #1“The valorized designer should see design for its major potential contribution to making the quality of life richer and more sustainable.”

My thesis has the potential to alter the lives of many stutterers, including myself. The final output may be a new and unique addition to the fields of design AND speech therapy.

VALORIZED DESIGNER #2

“It is important that (designers) see how the ideas they are studying are changing: where the ideas have come from, how they have changed, and how they may develop.”

By studying historical and contemporary design methodologies and speech therapies, I can arrive at a well-informed solution for my thesis.

VALORIZED DESIGNER #3

“The valorized designer will be able to evaluate design as an integral and integrated part of a particular society.”

My thesis may potentially show how design thinking can aid a very large group of people afflicted with a severe limitation. This places design in direct relation to a stuttering community that may not yet be aware of design’s potential to help them.

ADJACENT APPLICATIONS

Besides Speech Therapy, the hypothesis and research presented here could possibly be applied to other physical or mental disabilities.