When all voice is gone – the silent reality of aphonia

There are times, in some people’s lives when all voice will be gone.  For most of us, it will be a short-lived experience. But the transient loss of voice associated a virus or infection provides a taster of the reality of total absence of voice known as aphonia.

What is Muscle Tension Dysphonia?

Muscle tension dysphonia is a commonly used term amongst ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) consultants / Otoloryngologists and voice specialist Speech & Language Therapists. It is often used as an umbrella term encompassing vocal hoarseness or voice difficulty relating to vocal strain.

Trans-Vocal: Presenting at the 31st World Congress of the IALP, Taipei 2019

Attending the 31st World Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) this August was most definitely one of my 2019 highlights.  Not only did it give me the opportunity to be ‘trans-vocal’, it also gave me the chance to co-present with fellow voice specialist professionals; attend a range of presentations about voice; meet up with old friends … Read More

Date Confirmed for Student Observation Day

Course dates:Friday 9th August 2019 at 1pm-5pm Location:         1st floor, 4 Paddington Street, London, W1U 5QE ( Baker St. Tube) Course fees:    £10 per person FURTHER INFORMATION An opportunity for students keen to learn about about speech and language therapy and working as a voice specialist. There will be opportunities for questions and insights from a least two … Read More

The Girl With No Voice

10 year old Mary had not voiced for over 3 months. Not one vocalisation related to speech had ensued from her vocal tract in that time. She had already seen two ENTs and one speech therapist with no return of Voice. The second ENT, referred Mary to me. Both ENTs had assessed Mary’s laryngeal anatomy as normal with no evident … Read More

Mind the Gap: The Breathy Singer

Mind the Gap: The Breathy Singer

There’s a place for breathy voice quality. In singing, it can feature for stylistic reasons or as part of falsetto range. In the spoken voice though, it might best be limited to an intimate bedroom setting. A spoken voice that’s too heavily populated with breathy voice quality is usually a voice that’s in trouble – either the vocal cords aren’t … Read More

VoiceUp – From Male to Female Voice

Spotlight On: Transgender Voice Modification Recently a trans woman client presented for voice feminisation. The initial assessment had similar elements to the thousands of other initial assessments I have carried out with trans women. This first session always contains my initial two exercises. I want clients – some of whom have often travelled considerable distances to access the service- to … Read More