What is laryngeal papillomatosis? The diagnosis of vocal cord papilloma can prove to be one of the most challenging voice conditions for sufferers . For voice therapists, our interventions are often limited and restricted to pre and post surgery assessment and advice. Papillomatosis is a rare condition in which small benign tumours caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) infect the … Read More
You’re As Young As Your Voice
Voice Matters- Whatever Your Age Whether I’m assisting a performer or a retired person back to vocal health , their voice matters to them- and to me. Loss of voice function can be debilitating and socially and professionally limiting sometimes, it can cause huge financial loss. The Professor and The Conference One day I was contacted by a polite 86 yr old gentleman … Read More
ELVIS & CHER: From Fernando to Walking In Memphis
The Loss of a King The 16th August sees the anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. I’m a lifelong fan. It started from early childhood I think because my parents had so many albums and I was a kid that listened to singers and played albums – a lot. Just like people of a certain age remember where they … Read More
The Girl With No Voice
10 year old Mary had not voiced for over 3 months. Not one vocalisation related to speech had ensued from her vocal tract in that time. She had already seen two ENTs and one speech therapist with no return of Voice. The second ENT, referred Mary to me. Both ENTs had assessed Mary’s laryngeal anatomy as normal with no evident … Read More
Mind the Gap: The Breathy Singer
There’s a place for breathy voice quality. In singing, it can feature for stylistic reasons or as part of falsetto range. In the spoken voice though, it might best be limited to an intimate bedroom setting. A spoken voice that’s too heavily populated with breathy voice quality is usually a voice that’s in trouble – either the vocal cords aren’t … Read More
VoiceUp – From Male to Female Voice
Spotlight On: Transgender Voice Modification Recently a trans woman client presented for voice feminisation. The initial assessment had similar elements to the thousands of other initial assessments I have carried out with trans women. This first session always contains my initial two exercises. I want clients – some of whom have often travelled considerable distances to access the service- to … Read More
“Transformation Street” on ITV
It may be of interest to many of our clients and indeed the Speech and Language Therapist community to know that a new 3-part documentary series entitled Transformation Street has now begun airing on ITV with the first episode having aired on Thursday 11th January. A trailer for the series can be seen below:
Vocal Variety – The Spice Of My Life
“There is great satisfaction in bringing hope and relief to the vocally unhappy, challenged or afflicted. It is, without doubt, my vocational calling in life” – Christella Antoni One week in voice consists of many voice clients with varied diagnoses and vocal needs. This kind of mix stokes my voice passions and fires 🔥 me to achieve better voice outcomes … Read More
It Began with the Letter R…
“My speech therapy career literally came from the tip of my tongue.” – Christella Antoni I wanted to be a speech and language therapist since I was about 5 years old. The seed was planted in infant school. My first teacher had noticed I couldn’t say my ‘R’ sound properly, and referred me for speech therapy.