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Voice therapy

The focus of my section of the voice therapy article, is to highlight some specific approaches used during speech therapy. The approaches will be based on the two broad treatment options: physiological voice therapy and symptomatic voice therapy. The physiological voice therapy method chosen is the Accent Method of Voice Therapy. Chant Speech technique will be the symptomatic voice therapy discussed.

*There was a feedback given about who can perform these types of voice therapy, I believe this is something that should be covered in another classmate's section, speaking generally about the types of therapy. Thus far, no research has explicitly stated that this is something only SLPs perform.

Physiologic Voice Therapy

Accent Method

A holistic approach used in voice therapy is the Smith Accent Method, introduced as a method to improve both speech and voice production. Its technique is used to treat stuttering, breathing, dysprosody, dysphonia, and increased control of breathing, phrasing, and rhythm.

The main targets of accent methods are:

• To increase the pulmonary output
• To reduce tension in muscles
• To reduce glottis waste
• To stabilize the vibratory pattern of the vocal folds while speaking.

The accent method is implemented two to three times a week, in 20 minute sessions. The procedure is two-part: diaphragmatic breathing and rhythmic vowel play. During diaphragmatic breathing, the patient is trained to elicit and monitor abdominal breathing and muscle relaxation. Rhythms are then introduced in two beats, with an accent on the second sound. The accented rhythm is then generalized to longer phonation at three speeds (largo, andante, and allegro), while maintaining proper breathing techniques. The rhythms are then generalized to real speech, through the use of repetition, reading passages, conversations, and monologues.

Symptomatic Voice Therapy

Chant Speech

Chant-voice therapy uses pre-existing characteristics found in chanting-styled music, such as rhythm and prosodic patterns. The therapy is used to reduce phonatory effort, which causes vocal fatigue. Chant therapy is used to minimize hyperfunctionality by affecting loudness and voice quality. The technique employs the continuous tone quality found in music chanting. More specifically, it elevates the pitch of the voice during phonation, prolongs the vowels, de-stresses syllables, and lessens word-initial glottal attacks.

The goals of chant-voice therapy are to use voice quality and pitch techniques to decrease the effort used while talking. The technique is first demonstrated through the use of recordings, with the patient subsequently asked to imitate the specified voicing patterns. Once the chant has been mastered, the patient is asked to read aloud in chant and in normal register in 20 second alternation. Patients are asked to reduce chanting to a minimal, while maintaining vowel prolongations and softened glottal word onsets. Sessions are recored in order to provide auditory feedback.