What Is Spasmodic Dysphonia?

Think about how you pitch your voice and how fast you talk. Lower and slower will make you easier to hear and understand.

When it comes to conversing, there are a few folks who have a disorder causing an individual to falter at the point of vocalization. The habitual activities that most perform per diem are an added challenge for these folks, no matter the task at hand. This could be showing gratitude, responding to a straightforward inquiry, or stating their own name. The normal falterer being noticeable for conversing complications. We are so lost in the virtue of the "normal" that it is simple to slip one's mind. For most, the normal does not present itself until a problem comes up. As for the faltering, this is the result of conversing. Faltering exposes an essential separation in terminology and vocalization. Various features go into vocalizing but we are generally blind to these features including the normalness of vocalization. Those who falter, are very aware of

The Harmonics-to-Noise (HNR) ratio is a measure of the proportion of harmonic sound to noise in the voice measured in decibels. (Ferrand, 2007). HNR quantifies the relative amount of additive noise (Awen & Frankel, 1994) The lower the HNR, the more noise in the voice. Laryngeal pathology may lead to poor adduction of the vocal folds and, therefore, increase the amount of random noise in the vocal note. If a person has some kind of problem in vibrating the vocal folds, due to a growth, paralysis of one or both vocal folds, or other kind of laryngeal problem, a larger amount of air escapes during vibration, creating turbulent noise. (Pabon & Plomp, 1988) The greater the proportion of noise, the greater the perceived hoarseness, breathiness or roughness and the lower the HNR figure will be, i.e. a low HNR indicates a high level of hoarseness, and a high HNR indicates a low level of hoarseness. There is a strong relationship between how we perceive voice quality and the harmonic to noise ratio (Ferrand, 2007).

Periodic Paralysis Syndrome is a blanket term for a couple of inherited muscular disorders. The most common types are hypokalemic periodic paralysis and hyperkalemic periodic paralysis. Both of these are inherited and generally present from childhood, tho it is possible for symptoms to start showing later in adolescence. In hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, high levels of potassium in the blood interact with genetically caused abnormalities in sodium channels (pores that allow the passage of sodium molecules) in muscle cells, resulting in temporary muscle weakness and, when severe, in temporary paralysis. This disease may be caused by genetic defects in either the calcium channel or the sodium channel. Hypokalemic disease may be caused by genetic defects in either the calcium channel or the sodium channel (Medline Plus).

Today, Botox is not only used for beauty but is also used to treat a variety of problems, such as migraines, neck pain, excessive sweating, body odor, morbid obesity, carpal tunnel syndrome, stroke paralysis, incontinence and clubfoot in infants to name just a few. It has become a life savor for many people with debilitating disease or disorders. Using Botox as a medical treatment has recently hit close to home when my Mom was diagnosed two years ago with a rare vocal disorder called spasmodic dysphonia. The origin of this disorder was originally thought to be psychoneurotic, but in recent years it has become classified as a movement disorder of the larynx. Spasmodic dysphonia involves uncontrollable “spasms" of the muscles in the vocal cords that cause interruptions in speech which affect the quality of a person’s voice. In the more common type, adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD), vocal cords prematurely tighten when speaking which causes a squeaky high pitch voice. In the type of dysphonia my mom has, abductor spasmodic dysphonia (ABSD), when she talks, her vocal cords don’t close when they are supposed to which results in a breathy, whispery voice. Her voice seemed to get worse over time, it was less able to understand what she was

One of the most common laryngeal pathological changes is called vocal fold nodules (Phillippe H. al., et 2009). While looking at vocal fold nodules, one may notice tiny bilateral lesions. The SLP may also discover that vocal fold nodules appear as proportional mass lesions. The history of vocal fold nodules dates back to 1866, when the pathology was first discovered by Turk (Simpson B al., et 2008). “Vocal fold nodules occur more frequently in children and women (Simpson B al., et 2008).” “Another interesting fact is that 95% of the vocal fold nodule cases among adults are female and 5% male (Phillipe 2009).” Vocal fold nodules cause an hourglass closure glottal configuration secondary to the nodules developing at the junction of the

Hesselman coined the term “selective mutism” in 1983 to describe the disorder previously called “aphasia voluntaria, elective mutism, speech phobia, psychological mutism, and hearing mute” among fourteen other historic terms (Dow, Freeman, Garcia, Leonard, & Miller, 2004; Kearney, 2010). The American Psychiatric Association, or APA, characterizes selective mutism by a “persistent failure to speak in specific social situations where speech is expected, despite speaking in other situations.” Selective mutism shifted in recent years from being viewed as a response to trauma sustained early in life to a manifestation of an anxiety disorder (Dow et al, 2004). This paper briefly covers all aspects of selective mutism from signs and symptoms to

Stuttering affects an individual’s ability to produce fluent speech and often includes repetitions and prolongations of sounds. This causes disfluency in an individual’s speech. Stuttered speech is prevalent in less than 1 percent of people in the United States, (Bloostein & Ratner, 2008). Currently, there is no known cause of stuttering, but many argue that epidemiologic factors play a crucial role in the origins of stuttering. Factors such as incidence, genetics, the sex of a person, and other influences may impact a change in a health condition. Therefore, it is important to understand current evidence behind epidemiology in stuttering, as well as its prevalence and incidence in the field.

It normally starts from the head down to the legs. It can lead to symptoms like blurred or double vision, eyelids dropping and difficult breathing (Dysphagia) or speaking (Dysarthria). If it is not treated properly, the paralysis can become permanent and it can also cause a fatal respiratory

Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) is the complete immobility of one vocal fold. According to Sapienza and Ruddy (2013), “90% of vocal fold paralysis that occurs is unilateral and caused by damage to the peripheral nervous system” (p. 189). Vocal fold paralysis is typically considered a symptom of a disease or neurologic disruption. In one study, it was found that vocal fold paralysis was caused by surgical trauma, tumors or neoplasms, unknown or idiopathic factors, trauma, central nervous system dysfunction, radiation, inflammatory, cardiovascular, and other causes (Chen, Jen, Wang, Lee, & Lin, 2007). Symptoms of unilateral vocal fold paralysis may include: aphonia, abnormal vocal quality (breathy, hoarse, and/or strained), and dysphagia. Onset of UVFP may be life altering as the individual has to find compensatory strategies for voicing or even alternative methods of communication. The individual is also left susceptible to aspiration due to the lack of airway protection. These factors make it critical to diagnose the impairment so as to provide the appropriate treatment.

Dysphagia can be categorized mostly into three categories of neurological, obstructive, and muscular. Neurological dysphagia can have multiple causes, including cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and stroke, which is the most common cause of this type of dysphagia. Obstructive causes of dysphagia include cancers of the mouth and esophagus, cleft lip and palate, and the effects of radiotherapy which can result in accumulating scar tissue that can eventually occlude the mouth or esophagus. The last broad category is muscular, which include myasthenia gravis, achalasia, scleroderma, and more. Dysphagia in these conditions are caused by neuromuscular defects of the swallowing muscles.

Simple vocal tics are sounds that do not form words. Examples of this are throat clearing, or grunting. Complex vocal tics include shouting, cursing, and repeating words. Over time, these tics are known to get more and more complex. “Grunts turn into words, and words turn into phrases” (Gallant, 2013).

It can affect even people who are experienced at speaking in public and do it regularly. At its worst, it can make it impossible for the sufferer to speak in public at all, even to ask a question.

This baffling neurological disorder is characterized by repetitive motor and/or vocal tics. The identifying symptom of TS seems to be tic disorders. ?A tic is a brief, repetitive, purposeless,

If a person has dyspraxia that only affects the movements of the face and mouth then this is usually referred to as oral dyspraxia. Oral dyspraxia is often the cause of babies and toddlers drooling and it is hard to make speech sounds. It can also be difficult to blow bubbles, suck through a straw and imitate facial expressions. Babies with oral dyspraxia can find it hard to latch on and establish breastfeeding. When they start to eat food they often resist lumpy food and different textures.