Stuttering (scientifically known as dysphemia) is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by prolongations, repetitions, and blocks of sounds, syllables, words o...
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Muscle Tension Dysphonia
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I have had a speech disorder most of my life. My Dad had it also.
At times, I do really well and my voice just sounds raspy, but doesn't have the breathy, phonation breaks. When I'm under stress (and have been for 7 years....deaths, sickness in the family, I was a counselor at Columbine high on 4/20/99, my marraige of 17 years fell apart. My 28 yr old son has a drinking problem............etc...just everything and anything has come on me each year), it gets alot worse and I'm a chest breather,so most of my speech sounds strangled. I have been to a ENT specialist and she ruled out spasmodic dysphonia, but did say that I have muscle tension dysphonia and that it can be treated with therapy. I went to speech therapy a couple of times and made great improvements, but with the other stuff happening, I didn't take the time to practice. If anyone knows anything about spasmodic dysphonia or muscle tension dysphonia,could you recommend any DVD's, CD's, books that would help me learn the correct breathing techniques and something that I can practice with every day. It's soo hard to do day to day things when my voice is "strangled". People always ask me if I have a cold. I'm very self conscious about it. Anything you could do to point me in the right direction, I would appreciate SOO much. I can't afford a speech therapist right now, but if I consistently practice the different techniques, I know that I will be speaking at a lot better quality. Thank you SOO much! Posted on 11/24/07, 11:11 pm |
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hi rabala,
I think I may have a similar condition as you, but this is the first time I am looking into it, so unfortunately I don't have any great resources for you. However, I can relate to what you describe as being "strangled". I had this sensation for a long time. Others often comment that my voice is very quiet. Every sound I make takes effort -- almost as if being squeezed out. What made the specialist diagnose you with muscle tension and not spasmodic dysphonia? What is the difference? This is the first time I came across these terms. Your post is inspiring me to go find a local speech specialist. take care, rabala 
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Hi FeiPaul,
When the ENT Specialist looked down my throat to watch my vocal folds as I spoke, they didn't spasm (Spasmodic Dysphonia). The vocal folds are supposed to come together completely and my left one bows just a bit. The right fold is straight and fine. So, there's tension in my left. Search on youtube.com and there are some videos on there that have to do with speech therapy. Our voice is just the air that comes out of the vocal folds, so practice breathing from even under your belly button. Put your hand on that area and focus on the air coming from there. Strangled voices come from being chest breathers. Taking shallow breaths. Good luck! and Happy New Year.
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I found some voice breathing exercises. maybe it will help:
http://web.archive.org/web/2005061...://www.dystonia-support.org/LA-Voice-Speech-Breathing+Exercises.htm I am going to follow the program and try it out myself
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