[Catch]

I was just beginning a new branch of life on stage when dx'd w/MS. I have taken the past year trying to come to grips with MS, my sx, and in general getting a handle on things--as you all know, it's not easy.

At last I feel my sx have begun to remit (I hope I hope I hope). They are not gone, not by a long shot, and by now I'm pretty sure some of my symptoms will always be there. Unfortunately, one that seems to stick around despite steroids is the trouble I have with speaking. It sounds so goofy, but my tongue and mouth get really tired if I speak for any length of time. Reading a book to my grandson can sometimes be really difficult.

I'm trying not to get discouraged again, so thinking positive, I decided I'd see about going to a speech pathologist. Anyone out there have a similar problem? How do you handle it? Have any of you worked with a speech pathologist? I'd appreciate some input.

[jprinz99]

will be reading for some tips myself (I teach and also do a lot of public speaking). I am pretty good at making a fool of myself in public, just don't need to reinforce it with my speech, eh?

The only thing I find that helps is to have a drink in front of me. I think the act of drinking mainly helps me slow down, which in turn helps my speech. At least that it what the therapist suggested. If all else fails, I just acknowledge my speech can get twisted up (or worse I get the dreaded loss of words). Most folks are pretty decent about it.

What do you do if you don't mind me asking? Sing, comic, yodel, guitar, circus act?

[Kitty]

Normally I don't do a lot of talking but when I do (phone conversations with friends can get long!!) I find myself slurring words after a while. Not sure that they notice it - but I do. After a long episode of talking (and thinking) I find simple, everyday words hard to come up with. Long pauses while I figure out what to say. Most of the friends I have lengthy conversations with have MS so they probably don't even notice it - or if they do they don't mention it.

[Catch]

Originally Posted by jprinz99

What do you do if you don't mind me asking? Sing, comic, yodel, guitar, circus act?

I do improvisation and comedy. I've been working on an hour-long monologue that I'm trying to garner interest in as well. My hope had been that if the time came where I had to quit my demanding day job, I could bring in some income doing this.

I'm just so frustrated by these doors closing before they're even fully open. This is such a frustrating ailment, and god help you if you have any other disruptive issues. I also suffer from dry mouth caused by meds that I cannot change, so you can see, I have a few things to work out.

I'm glad you mentioned that most people are pretty decent. It's fear that's kept me from moving on with this since my dx and frankly, I'm just tired of being afraid of looking ridiculous in front of a bunch of strangers, when what I want to do is get on stage and BE deliberately ridiculous and make people laugh.

So you mentioned a therapist, and you keep water nearby. Well, that would be a given for me. I can't go 15 ft without water nearby. Is resting and slowing down the only help? Are there exercises to strengthen the mouth and tongue muscles?

[jprinz99]

the ST gave us a bunch of exercises to improve breath control, mouth muscles and tongue and throat muscle control and tone. I looked pretty goofy doing them but after some time they did actually help. They do a lot of this for all sorts of neuro patients - that's important that you see a speech therapist who specialises in neuro (mine was at a stroke rehab center & I was the only patient under 50 when I went). I also got lots of swallow testing (yum, pudding) from her. Mine was even covered by insurance (I never knew such a program existed on my insurance).

Try it - it helped me and it can't hurt. Now stop worrying about the future- just keep plodding toward it (I have it on good authority that it is the only way to get there)

[Catch]

Thanks for the input and the kick in the pants.

I thought after everything else I'd been through in my 47 years, I wouldn't be afraid of anything anymore. Geez, I'm not afraid of public speaking or death, so why am I afraid my tongue will get tired and I'll sound like a mumbler? No one's going to shoot me because of it.

George Carlin was one of my absolute heroes. I loved the guy, since I live near Santa Monica, I will likely even attend his public farewell (and I do not attend funerals). Anyway, all the people who knew him said he was fearless when it came to his comedy. I'd like that to be the way people would think of me. I think that is truly high praise.

Thanks again for the input guys. I'll be contacting my neuro for a referral to the SP.

[msmything]

Hiya,
I've been teaching public speaking/presentation skills for many years. I definitely slur and skip alot when my sx are active, but one of the tricks I teach my classes is to control pace by acknowledging natural pauses in speech, like written punctuation marks.
One of the fears of public speaking is a fear of silence, and the feeling of needing to fill it.
Silence is OK. It gives your brain and tongue a chance to catch up.