How Respeecher Helped a Person with Ataxia Preserve Their Voice: A Story of Empowerment and Resilience

Respeecher
3 min readJun 2, 2023

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Introduction

Losing the ability to communicate verbally is an incredibly challenging and emotional experience, especially for those with degenerative diseases. That’s why Respeecher continues sharing stories about how the voice cloning technology positively impacts people’s lives.

This story follows Linda Snider, who has been diagnosed with Spinocerebellar Ataxia. This rare disease affects her ability to speak. Thanks to Respeecher’s technology, Linda now has a way to preserve her voice and continue expressing herself authentically, even as her disease progresses.

Background

At Respeecher, we understand that witnessing a loved one struggle with a degenerative disease is one of the most difficult experiences in life. That’s why we were honored to assist Mark in supporting his wife, Linda, when he reached out for our help.

Mark knew that Linda’s ability to communicate with her loved ones was critical to her sense of self and wanted to take action to preserve her voice for the future. With Respeecher’s voice cloning technology, Mark created a lifelike voice model that Linda can use to communicate even as her disease progresses. Being able to access and use her true voice empowers Linda to maintain those precious connections with those closest to her.

The solution

At Respeecher, we approached Linda’s voice cloning project with the utmost sensitivity and care. Mark provided us with several recordings of Linda speaking which we used to create an AI model of her unique voice.

We did everything to ensure that the synthesized voice was an accurate representation of Linda’s natural voice. Now, the voice model can be used for text-to-speech conversion and to make voice synthesizer assistants sound more natural.

“Everything was easy to do. I’m not technology oriented, so if I say it’s an easy process, that means a lot. Respeecher as a company is forward-thinking, responsive, helpful, and philanthropic,” says Linda, adding to her experience with Respeecher.

Linda was moved to tears when she heard her cloned voice for the first time. She was surprised at how realistic and closely it resembled her original voice. The quality of the synthesized voice exceeded her expectations. It provided a sense of peace, knowing she could continue communicating with her voice, even when she is no longer able.

With access to her voice model, Linda plans to continue to express herself and share thoughts and feelings with the outside world:

“Watch out world..there’s no keeping me quiet now. Because of Respeecher, I’ll always be able to express my feelings and thoughts to the outside world, not just in my head,” says Linda.

Having access to her voice model has had a significant impact on Linda’s life. She has gained a sense of peace and comfort, knowing that her sense of self and personality will remain, even when her ability to communicate becomes difficult.

Respeecher has given Linda and Mark a powerful tool to fight against her condition and continue living on her terms.

Summing up

Respeecher’s cutting-edge voice cloning technology allows individuals like Linda to preserve their voices for the future and maintain their sense of self. By providing an accessible and user-friendly technology, Respeecher empowers individuals to fight back against the debilitating effects of degenerative diseases and maintain their ability to communicate with their loved ones and the outside world.

This article was initially published on the Respeecher case studies page.

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Respeecher

Respeecher is your reliable AI voice partner that delivers ethical & authentic voices across creative, education, healthcare, tech & cybersecurity industries