My friend, former BBC colleague and fellow Movers and Shakers podcaster Mark Mardell had a stellar career as a broadcaster with a confident distinctive voice.
From around 8:30 in the video, a superb explanation from speech therapist John Dean of why voice is damaged by Parkinson's. It utterly amazes me that voice loss is so often classified as a "non-motor symptom" by clinicians and researchers - it very clearly IS a motor symptom!
I'm sure speech therapists may have information about new technology to help but after reading these two comments from Jo and being a retired Teacher of the Deaf it might be an idea to explore a portable soundfield system especially for use in his home where a microphone would amplify Mark's voice and enable him to be heard more easily.
My Dad also has Parkinson’s and my Mum, 86, struggles with hearing - recently she got new hearing aids
They are Swiss and called Phonak and my Dad now wears a special form of mic on a chord round his neck called a Rodger On. Mum then connects her hearing aids, using the app on her phone, to the mic and it has revolutionised life for them. So for those struggling with hearing their partner who may be a bit frail for heading out to track down the best voice treatments this is a good practical support, that works - Dad and I have to be careful about having one to one chats now!! :-) www.phonak.com
This sounds great Rory, as you know Brendan has exactly the same issue, going from chairing big EU Commission working parties to not being heard at the breakfast table - it’s tough. Thank you Mark, Jo and Lucy, we’re looking forward to watching! J
From around 8:30 in the video, a superb explanation from speech therapist John Dean of why voice is damaged by Parkinson's. It utterly amazes me that voice loss is so often classified as a "non-motor symptom" by clinicians and researchers - it very clearly IS a motor symptom!
I'm sure speech therapists may have information about new technology to help but after reading these two comments from Jo and being a retired Teacher of the Deaf it might be an idea to explore a portable soundfield system especially for use in his home where a microphone would amplify Mark's voice and enable him to be heard more easily.
My Dad also has Parkinson’s and my Mum, 86, struggles with hearing - recently she got new hearing aids
They are Swiss and called Phonak and my Dad now wears a special form of mic on a chord round his neck called a Rodger On. Mum then connects her hearing aids, using the app on her phone, to the mic and it has revolutionised life for them. So for those struggling with hearing their partner who may be a bit frail for heading out to track down the best voice treatments this is a good practical support, that works - Dad and I have to be careful about having one to one chats now!! :-) www.phonak.com
This sounds great Rory, as you know Brendan has exactly the same issue, going from chairing big EU Commission working parties to not being heard at the breakfast table - it’s tough. Thank you Mark, Jo and Lucy, we’re looking forward to watching! J