Speech and voice impairments are common among people living with Parkinson’s. As many as 90% of people with Parkinson’s experience difficulties such as “hypophonia” (soft speech) or a more monotone, raspy, or breathy voice. Speech can become less intelligible and can make communication difficult, especially if paired with facial masking (a decrease in facial expression). It will come as no surprise then that speech and voice impairments can impact quality of life.

Speech and Language Pathologist John Dean recently sat down with us to discuss the various speech challenges related to Parkinson’s and actions you can take every day to train your voice, improve your speech, and communicate more fluidly and clearly.