Men of Few Words are the Best Men

"I am sorry, I didn't hear you," the court clerk said. She looked up from her files and added, "it's just that you speak so softly.

I had never been labeled a "soft speaker" before; sure people would often ask me to repeat myself and I would accommodate them, secure in the knowledge that the background noises obscured my voice, not PD.

But this condition continued, even in quiet quarters. I had to admit to myself parkinson's was robbing me of my voice. What to do? What should I do? My neurologist had the answer, get some "voice therapy!" He offered a scant definition of the process and I felt a touch humiliated but, when I balanced that with future humiliation of speaking and nobody is listening because they cannot hear me, I decided therapy would be my next stop.

The therapist was an outgoing, friendly lady who quickly took down the details of my health and referred me to an ENT doctor to make sure my vocal chords were not damaged (see earlier post - January 11, 2012). Once the all clear was given, she explained LSVT Loud as being a method of using voice exercises, spoken loudly, to stimulate the muscles in the voice box. Exercises consisted of making odd noises and loud speaking. Much of each session (4 sessions per week for 4 weeks) I sounded like an Inuit throat singer - a not unpleasant sound for a few minutes but longer.....

Anyway, I didn't practise and all her work came to naught. Fortunately, she is a gracious lady and is giving me a second chance. Starting in September I will devote the required hour of daily instruction, followed by a life time of a few minutes practice each day, making Felix Unger snorts and throat-clearing noises, and recover my voice. Not only will my voice improve,I hope my lost word-finding skill will also improve.

Be assured, the process works. If you have this problem, find a LSVT-loud practitioner and don't avoid practising. You won't regret it.

Once I have recovered my voice, I will need to practise another lost skill. I must re-learn how to speak at the right time and keep my thoughts to myself at the wrong time, no matter how tempting it is to input my opinion with my new found voice. Or maybe I will loudly insert myself in any argument, at any time, for any reason. It will be nice to be heard again; that's all I have to say.

I will keep you updated after each week of therapy.

Note: links appear not to work on Safari but do work on other browsers. The link for LSVT Loud is lsvtglobal.com