[Janice Harding]

My husband has had PD for 16 years. His speech is very bad. He can't get the words out at all sometimes. I have never seen anyone else with this problem in our support groups. Is this unusual or normal?

[Jomar]

my mother just asked my dad's PD dr about possible speech therapy as his voice sometimes gets weak.

But the dr said it is just something that happens with some PD ers.

she did say dad seems to be holding his own fairly well so far with activities and mobility. he does have DDD -degenerative disk disease & pain from that.

but speech therapy is available , so you might want to look into for your dh, to see if it might be a benefit in his case.

[paula_w]

I get simple satisfaction at times knowing I'm much smarter than they think I am. But my speech is low volume and consonants disappear. It's a strain and feels like I'm shouting to get to normal volume for the listener. People mistake this for dementia. They are wrong. This is a motor component and med side effect.

[lindylanka]

It is a fairly common thing with PD. Soft speech, or slurry speech are motor elements.The answer to this is to overspeak, put more effort into producing the sound even if it sounds loud enough to you it may not to others.

An inability to get words out is a non-motor effect of PD, and as I have discovered from meeting many people with PD, can hide some otherwise very articulate people.

This is a more difficult thing to deal with, and leaves us struggling for the right word, or unable to participate easily in lively conversation, as by the time we have gathered our words the conversation has moved on.

Speech therapy, or specialist methods like Lee Silverman are useful.
Another approach is singing, which can help strengthen, and make more flexible, the whole vocal apparatus. Perhaps it is something the group you mention might like to do.

[cesar]

Reading the posts in the thread I think it is time to talk based on my 14 years of experience with PD. Yes PD shows the following symptoms: Saliva production increases, face muscles including tongue and throat get weaker like all the other muscles, they also become stiff and the brain may have difficulties in retrieving the words. Results are drooling, swallowing difficulties, weaker voice, masked face and slowness in expressing yourself. Are there any solutions? Yes there are remedies. Firstly get speech therapy from a specialist in this field. Generally speech therapy is used for children so find an expert who is working on neurological diseases. Not easy to find but you have all the time to search for the right specialist. He/she will teach you how to workout your weakened muscles and how to make your voice heard. Keep in mind one point you have to work on it regularly every day. As to the memory side keep your mind working by regular exercises like mental calculation, solving puzzles like sudoku, etc. Your homework is to keep up the spirit. I hope this helps.

[Janice Harding]

The problem is not a weak voice, it is the stuttering or rapidity of speech that he cannot get the words out. He has had speech therapy, and that did not help. When I asked about it at a support group the group leader did not recomend speech therapy. She said, some people just have this problem, like other people have other problems. It is very frustrating to him, and consequently he is avoiding talking more when people are around.

[Fowki]

I get what feels like a Thick" tongue and makes my speech slurred, particularly when I first wake up in the a.m.

[cesar]

I have not heard of the stuttering problem up till now. Keep in mind that not necessarily every symptom is coming from PD. The cause may be somewhere else and PD may be just worsening it. I am sorry but I have not got much to say on that.
As to blurred speech and thick tongue that is typical PD in the morning. I strongly suggest speech therapy.