I'm done!

What am I done? Speech therapy! I waited from October 2007 to July 2008 for my referral to speech therapy. My voice was hurting more than usual last fall and so I got the ball rolling to get my talking and singing voice checked out. It was a long wait!

In the meantime, I started taking voice lessons and that really helped! I had the pleasure of taking voice from January to June this year. I'm presently waiting to hear from my voice teacher who had a baby this fall, as to when she wants to teach a few of us again. I'm super excited to get learning and improving again!

So, a few months ago, I had a speech assessment and have had a number of speech therapy sessions since, complete with homework to do at home in between sessions. It is hard to feel like there has been any progress to be honest. I don't always see the correlation between the exercises I'm supposed to do and any improvement in my voice.

But, alas, there has been!

Today I went for my final session, a post-therapy assessment! And sure enough, there is some improvement in the area that caused me the most frustration! I felt like my speaking voice was low, which is fine, but often at the end of phrases, my voice just bottoms out and hurts. The end of my sentences can resemble a growl or crack to my own ears on a bad day.

Apparently I'm very self-aware =) And heightened on the self-analytical side, which my grade 8 teacher used to say. So, I can pinpoint things that don't feel right that others wouldn't notice by just listening to me talk.

So, for the improvement.....my talking voice for both conversation and reading has increased by 20 Hertz! When it was at the low end of female ranges in July, now it is very average to a little higher! That's awesome for my problem with bottoming out at the end of sentences. Now, if the natural fluctuation in range happens, I'm starting from a higher point so that the bottom isn't causing me the same pain!

I didn't think it was possible to change the range that I speak at, but apparently there has been improvement! Yeah!

I do still have slightly painful and more cracky voice days. I'm doing well though and especially with how much I have to talk on my 12 hour shifts, I'm in good shape! Woo! Hoo!