Woman happy to have own voice for first time

A Kent woman says she is "so happy" to have her own voice for the first time.

Lauren Courtney, from Sevenoaks, previously used a communication aid with computerised voices which her family likened to a sat-nav.

But now, the 48-year-old can speak with a synthesised voice made up of recordings from two of her female relatives.

Ms Courtney first words were, “Daddy, Mummy, I love you.”

She added: “Having my own voice makes me so happy. It’s really motivated me to improve my skills with the technology and speak more.”

The technology has been provided by Kent and Medway Communication and Assistive Technology (KM CAT), a service based at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

Her father, Dr Nigel Courtney, said she has form for adapting to new technology.

He said: “When she was six, she could operate a BBC microcomputer with a foot switch. At 12, she learned to operate a Windows PC. At 14, she could use a head switch to operate a copy of Stephen Hawking’s speech output device,” he said.

He added: “Although Lauren has found it challenging to adopt and master these changes, she has persevered and was thrilled to use the voice for the first time.”

Voice banking was first suggested to Ms Courtney by Georgina Overell, of the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.

Two of Ms Courtney’s family members recorded lists of words and phrases which were then used to create a single personalised synthetic voice that is capable of generating an infinite number of words and sentences.

The new voice was installed to Ms Courtney’s communication aid device, which she uses through a head switch attached to her wheelchair.

Ms Overell said: “Lauren is brilliant to work with. She has so much to say and it is lovely to hear her speak with her very own unique voice.”

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