London Voice SIG

 “I can’t reach the high notes anymore”

Last week I took an afternoon off finishing my dissertation to go to the London Voice SIG with another SLT student. I am really interested in adult acquired disorders and was really looking forward to learning from some of the most experienced SLT’s in the field.

The main thing that I took from the day was the impact of a voice disorder on someone’s identity – especially somebody who uses their voice to make a living. One of the speakers was a professional singer/ actor who had received surgery. The emotion that she showed during her talk really hit home how distressing and life changing having a voice disorder might be.

She highlighted some really important points that I believe gave every SLT in the room food for thought:

-          She was given loads of information about the risks of surgery, possible benefits and information about how much voice rest she should take afterwards

BUT

She was left in the dark about the potential physical and emotional changes that she might experience following surgery. The singer was shocked to discover that she could no longer sing in the way that she used to- even after following the advice from the professionals.

She was unprepared for the impact this would have in terms of…

-          financial burden when not being successful at auditions

-          social isolation because it is difficult spending time with friends in noisy environments

-          other people not understanding because she still sounded ‘normal’ to everyone else

-          losing sight of her identity – a feeling that it wasn’t ‘her voice’  

With an emphasis on evidence based practice and outcome measures it is easy to get caught up in the impairment based stuff that we are trained to deliver. However, I believe it is vital to keep in mind the most important thing. The person with the voice disorder.

The team were promoting a group they ran for singer’s pre and post operation, called ‘Vox Op’. It gives an opportunity for the members to gain practical and emotional support in confidence. It is a shame more support is not available for professional voice users but hopefully this is something that will change in the future with the continued success of groups like Vox Op.