Whenever I write and post something that is critical and
negative about Parkinson's Disease, I run the risk of sounding like I'm
whining. To the contrary, I don't
believe there is anything more significant to a person with this insidious
condition than empathy - identifying with someone who is experiencing the same
feelings and frustrations. That's why I write...for you who have PD.
For those of you who don't have PD, but are still
interested, this is a look "inside the Parkinson's Brain" -
figuratively speaking, of course.
Up until two days ago, I had mixed feelings about the speech
therapy process. In my analytical world, I don't like to be told to do something
without knowing WHY I'm doing it.
Initially, I was told to say "aaah" as loud and as long as I
could in a mid-range tone. They were
testing my capacity for breathing with my diaphragm. It also became a benchmark to assess progress
or decline over the course of time. There
are some other exercises we do, also, but frankly, I tolerated these in hopes
that we would go deeper into understanding the problem and maybe finding
acceptable solutions.
A light went on when my therapist answered a question I had asked
about why I couldn't read aloud a long sentence...one that any 5th grader could
tackle with ease. In so many words, she
said my problem was physical not necessarily mental. What I
am attempting to do (what I used to do without effort) is to synchronize
my tongue, jaw, lips and vocal chords with my lungs and diaphragm until my air
supply is used up, take another breath and repeat the process. "No problem," you say. Except in the case where none of the above muscles
are working properly. I run out of air
after four or five syllables. This is
where I need to focus my attention and practice. Now I understand WHY I need to practice and WHAT it is I need to practice...synchronizing those muscle groups.
Here's an example:
"Terrance cultivated tomatoes and turnips in his terrace
gardens." When I try to read that
at a volume of about 80 dB (so people can hear me), I quickly run out of
breath. I have to break it up into
manageable phrases...
Terrance -(breath)- cultivated -(breath)- tomatoes and
turnips -(breath)- in his terrace -(breath)- gardens.
Try that for yourself - aloud, breathing in deeply at each break. Now, try it without reading words from a
page, but rather think a thought, visualize the words - with breath spaces -
then say them. If the person you're
addressing, can't hear you, say it again - louder...one sentence at a time.
How did you do? For a
guy like me that is used to doing everything at warp speed, it can become very
interesting. My perception at this
moment in time - is that asking me to try harder, is not unlike asking a person
with Cerebral Palsy to try harder to sit up straight.
Hopefully, with time and practice, my talking will improve. Practice, practice, practice. If you are considering speech therapy: Don't discount it early on. Hang in there - find out WHY you need to
practice then the WHAT will make sense.
