If you have kids or been around them probably those words have crossed your lips. For Dr. Megan Hodge, UofA Professor of Speech Pathology & Audiology, this question became her passion.

In 2001, with colleagues in Linguistics and Psychology, she applied for grant funding from the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (a Network Centre of Excellence) to develop software that would gauge children’s spoken language intelligibility at the word and sentence level, i.e. how well their words can be understood by unfamiliar listeners. The software is targeted for children with speech disorders that are related to how the brain controls speech.

How it works – a child (three years and up) is placed in front of a screen and an image appears accompanied by an audio recording of what the image is (up to seven words). The child is then asked to remember and then repeat what he or she heard. Via a microphone, the software records the child’s response. Later listeners are brought in to identify what the child said, based on the recordings. The software collects this information from listeners and analyzes the data. The results provide a measure of the child’s speech intelligibility, a useful indicator for the severity of a speech disorder and how this may change over time.

Word got out about Hodge’s software and the next thing she knew she was receiving messages from around the world with interest in licensing her technology. This was her first experience with technology transfer which led Hodge to connect with the UofA’s technology transfer agent, TEC Edmonton. Working with Darrell Petras, TEC Edmonton’s technology transfer manager made it a very positive experience.

“It has definitely been a partnership between us, a cross-education of sorts,” said Hodge. “Darrell is very knowledgeable and has been patient and helpful in walking me through the licensing process. I liked that he is responsive to my questions and concerns in a timely manner. In turn, he has learned a lot about working with speech-language pathology researchers and services.”

To date Hodge’s software has been licensed twice locally - to a speech therapy contactor for schools, who works in the Edmonton area, and to the Glenrose Hospital - Alberta Health Services. 

With the launch of her website www.tocs.plus.ualberta.ca increasing her exposure, Hodge has also licensed the software to the New Zealand Massey University, and is fielding requests from researchers across Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States.

Petras continues to send out Software Transfer Agreements (similar to an Option Agreement) letting researchers try out the technology for a short period of time, before they license it.

Hodge shared some sage advice about her commercialization experience, “Developing and maintaining software is no simple feat. It requires time, human and financial resources; however, the end result connecting my passion to a tool that can make a difference in a child’s life, well that says it all.”