Mums speech is getting worse đsheâs now got an amplifier to use from speech therapist which helps to a degree. She sends me text messages but they are unreadable as it looks like she just runs her hand along the line of the keyboard. Does anyone use any text to voice or have any suggestions for apps that they have found useful on an iPad
Thanks Jo
Hi, my wife is exactly the same, if she slows down and focusses on the texts then she is ok but when she just types a message the same happens.
I have been trying an old app called let me talk, but as I don't use iPad I'll let someone else suggest text to speech apps for that
It might seem a little odd but did your mum enjoy singing in the past? If so have a try at getting her to sing what she wants to say, like in a musical; because it is not automatic speech it can work as it engages a different part of the brain.
Best wishes
Hi Walking18!
These are our experiences and information about PSP and speech problems:
One of the symptoms of PSP is that its speech becomes slower and more difficult to understand but generally its intelligence remains. I reproduce some reflections of Kevin_1:
âAs the illness develops their mental processing becomes slower. That is they think slower, but they still think as adults and draw on a lifetime of experience and most likely using all of that wisdom which comes with it. So the way to speak is in a straight forward manner, not fast, simple language, but not slow as if talking to an idiot as in a movie, and to give them time. Ask them of they understand if it is complicated and if they want you to clarify anything. This is basic good communications practice. It works.â
For a time we attended sessions with a speech therapist until the disease progressed and no advantage was obtained, at the same time we combined it with exercises at home with a "Breather" (you breathe with some force in and out through it and it has adjustable resistance). Martina_MP uses a free app (great for iPad) called TalkPath Therapy by Lingraphica which has easy to follow speech and cognitive exercises.
On our case, we intend an App but It was not possible to use it for more than few months. As her dexterity deteriorated, she had problems placing her finger on the appropriate word or letter and we were able to buy a plastic screen cover that had an opening for each key on it; this helped to direct her finger and keep it one the right letter. Another problem she developed was the inability to tap her finger in a key or letter, and as such she would often have several letters in a row. For example if she tried to tap the letter A, it would show as AAAAA because she could not get her finger off the letter A quickly enough.
Some have successfully used for some time a cheap iPad plus free software text-to-talk program called Claro (claro.com) with a BigKeys keyboard that attaches to the iPad through an Apple device that is used for connecting to camera to an iPad . A voice comes from the Claro program. It's like a GPS voice.
On our case we have used a plastic laminated A3 sheet with the alphabet in large letters (40x40 mm) supported on a music stand at the height of the patient's eyes. She points to the letters and another person writes on a blackboard the letters that patient indicated.
You can also prepare "communication panels" with the alphabet and some pictograms that patient can be marked with a pointer. Up to the present time it is the best system we could find. Over time the pictograms become useless and it is necessary to use only letters, as large as possible.
Speak to the PSP patient as you would anyone else. When it comes time to ask a question try framing it to a yes or no response. It's not that the question is hard to understand but forming/finding the words for an answer may be difficult.
The communication with a patient of PSP is one of the most difficult problems to overcome.
When the patient can still verbalize it is important to know that saying NO requires less muscular effort than saying YES.
When verbalizing is almost imposible and the âcommunication panelsâ don´t work, to say YES by showing the thumb from the fist and saying NO by hitting the fist on a surface could be a solution. Alternatively taking the âmore activeâ patient´s hand and establishing that a squeeze is YES and no squeeze is NO.
There will come a time when the answers are slow and even erratic. In this case, it may be better to prepare the patient and tell that you are going to ask for a response later to a question that you are verbalizing at that moment. When the disease progresses, the response is slower, until making a thumb gesture or squeeze your hand may need at least 20 seconds.
To write down a big YES, NO on a sheet of paper and the patient could point to the correct one seems to be a good alternative.
"Doingwhatican" proposes a simple method of communication:
âHand-squeeze and other techniques can be developed by people with PSP and carers working together to develop a system that suits them. In its simplest form the carer goes through the letters of the alphabet and the person with PSP squeezes his/her hand at the right letter. A more sophisticated version can be used, where a double squeeze takes you into code where one squeeze in each letter of the alphabet has a meaning such as: 'I am hungry', 'I am tired', 'Shut up' or other simple phrases that may be helpfulâŚâ
When all fails, sticking out the tongue to indicate "YES" can be a solution.
Recently there has been an information related to ALS: Voice & Message Banking (Susan Mast ALS Foundation) that may be applied to patients with PSP.
youtube.com/watch?v=WCkjbiD...
La âSalle IRFâ and âwobblybeeâ reports about a voice treatment fot PD (Parkinson Disease):
Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT LOUDÂŽ) is a popular voice therapy that has been shown to improve voice loudness in people with PD for up to two years after treatment. LSVT LOUD therapy consists of intensive, high-effort speech exercises. LSVT LOUD involves 16 treatment sessions (four sessions per week for four weeks), as well as daily home practice. The exercises include prolonged vocal phonation with increasing volumes and changing pitch, functional words and phrases with increasing volumes. Throughout the 16 sessions, participants progress through a systematic hierarchy of speech exercises beyond words and phrases and into "outside the therapy room" conversations and transfer tasks.
Although primarily directed at loudness, there are effects on speech intelligibility, articulation, facial expression, reducing hypomimia, respiratory support, and voice quality.
In addition, LSVT also provides benefits in the safety and efficacy of swallowing, improving pharyngoesophageal swallowing function, as well as the effectiveness of involuntary coughing in people with PD.
Hug and luck.
Luis
Try the AVAZ app, itâs a bigger screen on an iPad. You can program in common phrases & it talks for them once they have what they want to say down. You can change voices as well. Also get a stylus pen & add big grips to it. It was easier for my dad than using his finger. We got some from occupational health. Best of luck. We also had to do blinks towards the end. Like hard blink for yes. Itâs a cruel disease, Hope this helps.
We have made basic sentences on strips of paper and laminated which we punched holes in and attached to a large key ring. We used large bold print. Things like, I'm Hot, Im cold, I'm hungry, I need to be changed, I need a drink. I'm tired, I'm in pain, etc.
Thank you thats really helpful - think this would help
Hi,Our speech therapist has had Ruth doing the LSVT vocal technique - the idea is if you can raise the volume of the voice this then helps the articulation. It has helped for a year, but as ever the disease is winning.
No computer / phone app has ever helped as she lost her dexterity a long time ago and now her vision is going.
She uses a whiteboard now if we cannot understand her - but it often looks like Sanskrit!
I will really miss the spontaneity of conversation and we are right at the end of it.
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