Newsgroups: comp.speech
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From: hoequist@brtph8ee.bnr.ca (Charles Hoequist P250)
Subject: Re: Strain on voice from SR
Message-ID: <1994Aug18.121153.21388@brtph560.bnr.ca>
Sender: hoequist@brtph8ee (Charles Hoequist P250)
Date: Thu, 18 Aug 1994 12:11:53 GMT
References: <32po14$epe@news.u.washington.edu> <1994Aug16.120839.13521@brtph560.bnr.ca> <DOWDING.94Aug17144706@Gansett.ai.sri.com>
Organization: BNR Inc., RTP, NC
Lines: 39

In article <DOWDING.94Aug17144706@Gansett.ai.sri.com>, dowding@ai.sri.com (John Dowding) writes:
 [ deleted ]
|> Well, I know of one case to the contrary.   A friend of mine is no
|> longer able to type due to tendinitis, and has used both a speech
|> recognizer and a typist.  In both cases, he developed serious
|> hoarseness, and had to limit the amount of speaking he did at work. 
|> In his case, I don't think that it mattered whether he was speaking to
|> a recognizer, or to a typist.
|> 
|> That is, of course, purely anecdotal evidence.
|> 
|> Does anyone know if studies have been done of occupations that require
|> near-continuous speech, say, air traffic controllers?
|> 
|> --
|> John Dowding
|> dowding@ai.sri.com

My original post was based on literature on  
damage to the vocal tract as a result of vocal activity. 
My recollection is that long-term damage is found among singers,
and that's about it.
I mentioned shouting or muscular tension as other possibilities,
and more generally it's possible that the unusual task of speaking
for discrete-input recognition could lead some people to adopt
unusual strategies which hurt the vocal folds.
Certainly continuous speaking can cause temporary hoarseness
(actors and public speakers have the problem), but is the person
you cite talking nonstop eight hours per day?

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