Movers and Shakers: Losing Your Voice
A piece cut short by a fall
On Friday evening I was about halfway through my weekly post about the latest episode of Movers and Shakers when I suffered a disastrous and painful fall. This has for the time being deprived me of the use of my right arm, making my typing unbearably slow. But I thought this episode, presented by Mark Mardell, was so interesting and packed with information, that the post was worth publishing even in truncated form.
This week’s episode of the hit podcast about living with Parkinson’s is all about one symptom of the condition that I would bet few members of the general public would know about - speech impairment. The episode is led by a great broadcaster, my former BBC colleague Mark Mardell, whose voice will be familiar to many.
His old voice, broadcasting from Washington, Brussels and around the world, I should say. For, as he tells us, Parkinson’s has reduced it to a “querulous and pathetic” whisper. The effect on his life has been profound:
”Because I've been a broadcaster all my life, it undermines the way I feel about myself. But more than that, in the family. I'm used to being a strong dominant voice. And I literally feel invisible.“
Gillian Lacey-Solymar has also seen her voice impaired, but in her case the blame lies with her Deep Brain Stimulation operation, which targeted the area of the brain which controls speech ; ”Mine just comes and goes, there are times when it goes entirely and I can't articulate a word. And people have to guess what I'm saying.”
Paul Mayhew-Archer, who is preparing to have DBS, is worried by this news of a side-effect he had not anticipated. “My voice is quite important to me. So I'm sort of faced with this balancing act.” Our guest Tim Grover, a speech therapist specialising in Parkinson’s is not exactly reassuring, telling Paul that speech impairment is a common side-effect of DBS. Gillian insists it is worth it, so beneficial has her treatment in lessening the acute pain she was experiencing.
But what is going on more broadly when someone like Mark finds their voice fading after a Parkinson’s diagnosis? Tim Grover compares it to the impact of Parkinson’s on how we walk, a gradual furring up of the nerves and muscles which let us speak as well as walk. “If we think about the symptoms of Parkinson's - rigidity, slowness of movement - and if we were to superimpose those on the apparatus of speech production, so respiration, and foundation of the voice and articulation, those same symptoms play out, We don't see them, but we hear them.”
We then hear from former BBC News executive Vin Ray about what appears to be the best way of treating this issue, Lee Silverman Voice Training, or LSVT. Tim Grover leads the Movers and Shakers in a couple of voice exercises to demonstrate what the training involves.
Further reading:
Parkinson’s UK Guide on Speech and Communication Problems:
https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/information-and-support/speech-and-communication-problems
Impact of DBS on Speech:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36040825/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A%20The%20impact%20of%20DBS,in%20contrast%20with%20other%20regions.
Lee Silverman Voice Training
https://www.lsvtglobal.com/LSVTLOUD
Speech Therapists are a very mis and underused resource in the NHS. They mainly deal with swallowing, such a shame. Get better soon xxx
Very sorry to read this, Rory: I hope you recover well from your fall. The piece made me think of the (warm and respectful) place that your voice, Mark’s, and Jeremy’s (please forgive the familiarity) has in my mind’s soundscape