You ask me how I am doing. Take a seat, and I will try to tell you. It is a tale of quiet optimism, occasional pessimism but rarely, if ever, fatalism
I am fairly lucky. The only noticeable PD symptom these days is my voice, or lack thereof. It seems to almost disappear at times. Thank goodness for speech therapy; although, I have a very sore throat and can't practise like I should.
So, you say, you are losing your voice! What's the big deal?
Well, sit back and I will tell you. The British Geriatric Society did a study in 2005 in which it asked PWP about how speech problems affected them. Here are some of their findings:
Central concerns were not that voice was monopitch, particular sound contrasts difficult, or similar. Except in the most severely affected speakers these restrictions could in extremis be modified, at least for brief stretches. Rather individuals focused on the impact changes exerted on ability to communicate, their view of themselves, and the detrimental effects of the effort required to overcome physical and mental limitations for anything beyond short periods.
Further difficulties with conversations linked to changes such as distractibility, diminished attention span, problems initiating speech movements, difficulty finding words and formulating ideas. These rendered it difficult to get into conversations and hold one’s place there, led to feelings of frustration at not being able to make one’s needs known and depression or annoyance at being neglected by others. A frequent consequence was withdrawal
You can see there is an effect. For a PWP, including me, the speech problems can be annoying, frustrating and embarrassing.
I am learning to cope with the problem, usually by remaining silent, but other times just going with the flow. But, as I said, it can be frustrating. It is like I am waiting for the tulips to bloom but I forgot to plant the bulbs.
You will have to excuse me, I am being called to dinner. Ever onward and upward and always on a full stomach.
No comments:
Post a Comment