Voice amplification

[Joanne19]

Good morning All. My husband’s voice has become so quiet that I’m struggling to understand him now. He is speaking and can hold a conversation but it’s so frustrating for him and he often just gives up. I was wondering if anyone has tried voice amplification devices, there seem to be a lot on the market with varying prices. Any advice would be gratefully received.

[Bergenser]

Dear Joanne19,It sounds like a good starting point that your husband is speaking and having conversations.

If you've not already tried, I would suggest asking the adult Speech & Language team if they can offer Lee Silverman Voice Treatment - LSVT LOUD. This could help your husband speak louder - he might feel like he's shouting. We had a good improvement (measured in both volume and stamina) over a 6 week course - it takes a lot of practice and he has to be motivated. The training helped my husband "find his voice" enough to stay in touch with some friends and enjoy going for a coffee with them on a good day.

We never tried to use voice amplifiers for him as it didn't suit the way he speaks.

My mother-in-law had Parkinson's Disease and we tried many devices with her but none that she was happy with.

Hopefully others may have more positive experiences.

Best of luck - and keep having the conversations 🌻🤗

[Joanne19 in reply to Bergenser]

Thanks for that, Bergenser. I’ll definitely speak to our SALT about the exercises. She has given a variety of links to websites for excercises in the past and my husband has tried them all. As you say, his problem lies in his own perception of his voice, he feels like he’s shouting. He often starts out speaking at a louder level but after a few words it just fades. Will give LSVT a try. Thanks for the help.

[Richard33 in reply to Bergenser]

Joanne,

I totally agree with Bergenser....LSVT worked well with Ruth for a good year....

Richard 🙂

[Zerachiel]

Hello, Excuse the copy/paste, I posted this a while ago...

my wife had an amplifier using a microphone which helped a little but also amplified the breath so it still wasn't easy to hear.

She then had a voice aid with the neck band to pick up vibrations from the Larynx, this worked for a short time but as her voice declined to a whisper it again became ineffective; a whisper is very often formed in the mouth so there is little or no vibration for it to pick up.

We still have the voice aid, if you are anywhere near Nottingham you may borrow it to give it a try to see if it works for you

[Joanne19 in reply to Zerachiel]

Hi Zerachiel,

Thanks for the help, so useful.I suppose all the solutions are going to be short lived as this awful disease progresses. Our SALT is going to bring a voice amplifier to try, we’re very lucky, she’s so helpful. The neck band is another avenue to explore and thank you so much for the kind offer to let us borrow one, unfortunately we’re not in your area, we’re further north in Greater Manchester.

Your support is greatly appreciated

[Jaguar86]

Hi Joanne,

I share your frustration. This is a big problem for me too. I wear bilateral hearing aids which doesn’t help. The audiologist suggested an amplifier which streams to my hearing aids. It helps but it also picks up the extraneous noise: road noise in the car, rubbing on his shirt etc. drives me bats. Hopefully these devices can be improved in time. The Speech therapy program sounds great, as long as cognition is intact. A problem for us. So many challenges for us. Good luck, Lee ( Australia)

[Joanne19]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences, it’s so helpful to hear from people who’ve struggled with the same issue and can offer sound advice.

[OB10]

I got one on loan from Salt it does make a difference. I also attended communication group for 5 weeks organised by SALT and the tips that we were using did also make a big difference.

[Joanne19]

Glad to hear it made a difference. Our SALT has now provided an amplifier and it has helped enormously although it’s still difficult where there’s lots of background noise. Thanks for the advice