I have benefited greatly from speech therapy. My neurologist initially sent me because I had difficulty swallowing. I didn’t know you would see a speech pathologist for that, but I went, had a swallow test, and he saw what was happening. Next time, he tested my voice. I spoke into a special microphone attached to a computer. I could see the modulation but did not know what it meant. He told me he would work with me to make my voice 30 times louder. He said the swallow test showed weakness in my throat muscles and showed me a model of a throat and explained my swallow problem. He gave me exercises to do at home. Each time I went, he worked with his hands to loosen the muscles in my neck and shoulders and worked on my vocal cords.. He also provided me with a throat muscle strength trainer and gave me instructions. I use it and do my throat and swallow exercises every day. I saw him once a month for 2 months. That ended in December, now once a month. I speak much louder. People have even remarked about that. I am not slurring my words, but I’m not sure this therapy is why. I am able to eat much more easily, but still slow at that. The whole time I have been seeing the Speech Pathologist rather than a speech therapist. Maybe because of the swallowing issue. I am feeling blessed.
You might want to compare your present therapist’s findings with someone else’s.
God bless.
Sulyn

@A MyParkinsonsTeam Member
Hi! Sorry I didn’t see your question until today. I’m not here very often these days. Yes, my words were coming out muddled and they no longer do. I don’t know if that was the result of speech therapy or due to the fact that my pd symptoms were going away. You might have read here that at least some of my symptoms were due to taking a particular psych medication. It took many months but gradually I seem to be feeling better. Some symptoms have disappeared.

Mentioned Users

A MyParki...

i need to get me some pineapple.

so do I. I found that eating some pineapple helps a lot.

I get thick saliva in my mouth and throat that makes it hard for me to talk and swallow.